Four Heineken Open matches in the last five years are reportedly being investigated for match-fixing.
One match in 2011, one in 2012 and two in 2014 have piqued the interest of tennis officials for suspicious betting patterns with two involving a player "red-flagged" by authorities, according to the New Zealand Herald.
The players involved, who the Herald chose not to name, are accused of losing the matches on purpose.
The odds of all four matches shifted by over 10 percent due to pre-match bets and also had late bets on a particular result with the players who were heavily bet on all winning, mostly in straight sets.
Richard Palmer, who was tournament director for the 2011 and 2012 tournaments, told 3 News he was unaware of any suspicious activity and that players were simply keen to get to Australia.
"At no stage was I aware that potentially there was something like this going on. There was never any locker room talk, or people quietly whispering things or casting insinuations that perhaps something was going on," Palmer said.
Palmer said it was hard to "categorically" state whether someone was fixing because players often tanked as a means of moving on to a bigger tournament, like the Australian Open.
"They don't basically fire up as much as you see them normally. You see them go through the motions and if the game doesn't happen for them, they move onto the next venue," Palmer said.
"There are all sorts of reasons a player doesn't have the same fire in their belly. They could have an injury or they could be crook or they could have a virus of some sort so there performance is down a bit."
The news comes in the wake of reports by the BBC and BuzzFeed News claiming evidence of widespread match-fixing at the top level of tennis.
The report insinuates evidence had been suppressed after 15 players were accused of match-fixing but allowed to continue playing.
The under-fire Tennis Integrity Unit has flatly denied they have surpressed evidence of suspected match-fixing.
Palmer said whenever the Tennis Integrity Unit would appear at tournament director's meetings; they seemed to be focused on investigating lower levels of the game who were strapped for cash.
"They were mainly concerned at a lower level [like] challenger and the futures level where there are more susceptible players who perhaps haven't quite made it and they're ranked in the 2-300s, not making it financially and maybe became easier targets.
"[There are] no spectators [at that level] and so someone to roll up and offer them a few thousand dollars, they are more susceptible to temptation."
3 News
