I was contacted to fix match: Bhupati

Melbourne:

Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi on Monday added more weight to the simmering match-fixing controversy in the sport by disclosing that he was approached to fix a tie early in his career.

Bhupathi, who turned pro in 1995 and won as may as ten Grand Slam titles, said that he was contacted over telephone by an unknown caller "very early" in his career.

"I was contacted (to throw a match) very early in my career but I did not entertain the call," he said.

Bhupathi, who is currently playing in the men's doubles and mixed doubles event at the Australian Open here, however, refused to elaborate on the subject, fearing it could snowball into "another scandal".

"But I will not comment any more on this otherwise it would become another scandal," he added.

The 33-year-old player denounced the match-fixing menace and appreciated the efforts of the game's world governing body -- ATP and WTA -- in combatting it.

"It's not a good thing. Sports should be clean. The game's governing body is right in being punishing (guilty) players and being very strict on them," he said.