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The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has handed Hernán Casanova a two-month suspension after finding he had placed illegal sports bets and was involved in a match-fixing attempt.
Casanova, currently ranked 397 in the ATP standings, admitted in a post online that he made “two mistakes” and claimed he did not know the rules at the time.
“Casanova accepted a sanction of two months, and a fine of $2,000 of which $1,500 is suspended. The sanction is effective from 4 February 2026, and will end on 3 April 2026,” the ITA said in a statement.
“During the period of ineligibility, Casanova is prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association.”
Casanova placed bets ‘for fun’
Hernán Casanova admitted he placed bets “for fun” on tennis matches between 2023 and 2025, though none of them involved tournaments where he was competing. Each of those wagers broke the rules set out in the Tennis Anti‑Corruption Program.
“I’m going to be suspended for two months,” Casanova wrote on his Instagram account on Friday. “I clearly accepted my mistake and suspension.”
Investigators also found that Casanova failed to report an approach from someone who tried to convince him to take part in match-fixing. The warning came two weeks after Argentine Román Burruchaga and Spaniard Nikolas Sánchez Izquierdo, finalists at the Challenger 125 in Rosario, said they received death threats from gamblers demanding they lose their matches.
“These are going to be two difficult months,” he continued. “I want to share this so that the kids who are just starting out in professional tennis read and get well informed about the anti-corruption program, because the smallest mistake comes at a cost.”
Match fixing in tennis
Tennis has been facing growing problems with match‑fixing, and the past year showed just how widespread the issue has become.
Last February, the ITIA announced bans for six players tied to a Belgian syndicate led by Grigor Sargsyan, who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2023 for running the operation. François‑Arthur Vibert, Agustin Moyano, Jerome Inzerillo, Romain Bauvy, Yannick Jankovits, and David Guez were all formally sanctioned as part of that investigation.
The crackdown continued in April, when five more players, Thomas Setodji, Hugo Daubias, Gabriel Petit, Yannick Thivant, and Thomas Brechemier, were added to the sanction list for violations dating back to 2017 and 2018. These cases showed how far Sargsyan’s network had reached and how long its influence had been in the sport.
The problem isn’t limited to Tennis. In November, Turkish football saw one of the largest betting scandals in recent memory, with more than 1,000 players and nearly 150 referees suspended for offenses that included match‑fixing.
Together, these incidents highlight how gambling pressures continue to spread across sports, especially in lower leagues and tournaments.
Source: Covers
