BELGIAN TENNIS PLAYERS WAFFLE ON BRIBERY RACKET: Two Belgian tennis players said they were offered bribes to lose their matches:

MSNBC reports that Flemish faulter Gilles Elseneer was offered over $140,000 to lose his first round match at Wimbledon in 2005. Fellow Belgian David Norman came forward and admitted he was promised a substantial sum if he threw a game when he was in an Italian tournament about six or seven years ago.

Neither netter took the money. Norman also added that he was asked about the conditions of other players, if any were suffering injuries or personal problems. Such info could help sports bettors increase their chances of striking rich on the red clay.

Elseneer declined to name the party proposing the financial foul, only to say, “they are active in the tennis world.”

The fix might be in for the courtly sport. Russian Nikolay Davydenko is under questioning for a match he retired from in August. A British online gambling company noticed that 10 times the normal amount of bets were placed before the match, most in favor of his opponent.

Davydenko lost when he quit in the third set, claiming a foot injury. But he denied any wrongdoing, and even welcomed an investigation by the ATP Tour.

Sound like the gambling situation is turning into quite the tennis racket.