Betting is a rampant phenomenon in international tennis.
The racket sport, with a 15 seconds difference between a live match and online scoring, provides ample opportunity for betting from the venue.
And in countries where betting is legal, it happens on a regular basis.
However, for the Chennai Open it came in as a surprise.
The organisers of the tournament unearthed a betting racket, the members of which allegedly belong to an international betting syndicate.
Four foreign nationals -- two Germans, an Italian and a Russian -- were caught betting live from inside the stadium premises on Thursday.
However, even though betting is illegal in India, no official case was filed against the above four, with them being let off with a warning.
Sources though confirmed that the Chennai police had interrogated the four foreigners, taken their photographs and made a note of their passport details. The information will be circulated to the other ATP tournaments to help them deal with such a situation.
As regards the Chennai Open per se, the security at the tournament has been beefed up and officials are keeping a watchful eye on any similar activity.
