Tennis Players Need Better Education, Says Andy Murray

Andy Murray would not be surprised if players ranked in the top 50 were fixing matches and has called for better education on the pitfalls of corruption. Murray thrashed 18-year-old German Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-2 6-3 in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday but questions after his win were dominated by the recent allegations of match-fixing in tennis.

An investigation carried out by the BBC and Buzzfeed has claimed that a group of 16 players were repeatedly flagged up as suspicious to the sport's governing bodies but have been allowed to continue playing unchecked.

Corruption has been reported before in the lower levels of tennis but the BBC and Buzzfeed allege all of the 16 players have ranked in the world's top 50, more than half of them were competing in the Australian Open first round and the group included winners of grand slam titles.

Murray, who says he has never been approached to fix matches, believes tennis authorities must do more to ensure young players are better educated about the dangers of corruption.

"I've been aware of it match-fixing since I was quite young and I think when people come with big sums of money when you're at that age, some people can make mistakes," Murray said.

"I do think it's important that from a younger age, players are better educated and made more aware of what they should do in those situations and how decisions like that can affect your career and affect your whole sport.