The ATP said last Monday that Czech player Frantisek Cermak and Slovak Michal Mertinak were banned and fined for betting on tennis matches. As the men's tennis continues to fracture due the numerous accusations of gambling in the sport, the two Eastern European doubles experts became the first non-Italian players sanctioned under the ATP's anti-corruption program, which forbids players and their associates from placing wagers on any form of tennis. Cermak, 31, who does not have a singles ranking, was banned for 10 weeks from Monday and fined $15,000, while world number 616, Michal Mertinak received a two-week suspension and a $3000 fine.

"An ATP investigation launched in November 2007 found that Mr. Cermak had wagered on tennis matches during a period dating from 9 Sept. 2006 through 1 Feb. 2007. The same investigation found that Mr. Mertinak had wagered on tennis matches during October of 2006." said the ATP in a statement.

The ATP said that none of the players placed wagers on their own matches, also, the independent hearing officer found no evidence of any intent to affect the results of any of the matches they wagered on.

"The ATP's anti-corruption program is clear that gambling on any form of tennis match will not be tolerated," said Gayle David Bradshaw, ATP's executive vice president, rules and competition.

About a year ago, the ATP launched a global examination to detect any unusual activities that could lead to gambling activities among the ATP players, since then, five Italian players had already been sanctioned and suspended since. Alessio di Mauro, Potito Starace, Daniele Bracciali, Giorgio Galimberti and Federico Luzzi have been punished for placing wagers on tennis matches.

To detect fraudulent patterns has been a high priority for the ATP; an investigation was initiated last year when the online sportsbook, Betfair voided all bets on a match between Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello for irregular betting patterns. Many gambling and sportsbetting sites offer tennis lines and not many months ago, the French Tennis Federation filed a case against several online sportsbetting companies in an attempt to prevent the sites from offering betting lines on the Roland Garros French Open. However, the court ruled against the French Tennis Federation, exempting the online sportsbooks from all responsibility.