Alexandr Dolgopolov has recently been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons though it may have more to do with the way he plays more than anything else. Sometimes he 'turns up', other times he goes missing, mentally that is, yet there seems to be a bit more to the latest story on the enigma from the Ukraine.
Here's the facts.
Whether you take any notice of Betting agency odds is entirely up to you however it seems that Dolgopolov was a 'shoe in' to beat Thiago Monteiro of Brazil at the Winston- Salem Open in the US just recently.
One particular agency had the number 63 ranked Ukraine at $1.33 to win as opposed to the number 114 ranked Brazilian's rather lofty odds which hit as high as $4.50 prior to the match. By all reports, just before the match commenced the odds for Dolgopolov drifted way out as money poured in for an upset to occur.
So this is what happened.
Dolgopolov reached deuce just ONCE on Monteiro's serve which is a reasonable delivery but nowhere near the class of Querrey or Karlovic who Dolgopolov has beaten on more than one occasion. On the other side of the coin Monteiro had three chances to break the serve of the Ukraine's and he had a 100 per cent success rate in doing so, three out of three, too easy.
Alexandr Dolgopolov won just 12 receiving points from 49 attempts and lost in under an hour, 55 minutes to be exact. 6-3, 6-3.
The highlights are few and far between, very few rallies and many, many errors from the racket of Dolgopolov. It would be fair to say that his effort against a player ranked some 51 places below him was far from competitive.
So to their previous match.
Four weeks earlier in Gstaad these two players fought hard for three sets though the result was the same, Monteiro won 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 but the statistics show that Dolgopolov doesn't really fear the Monteiro serve. Thirty eight per cent of return points were won by Dolgopolov in this particular match though it was on clay so perhaps the ball travelled slightly slower than it would on a hard court.
Surely though going into their latest match the homework had already been done by the enigma from Ukraine.
Fair to say again, Dolgopolov knew what to expect from Monteiro's delivery.
Maybe it's all a bit of a coincidence and just like the Davydenko scandal which I wrote about on this site not long ago, perhaps there is nothing in it except big punters looking at players who are susceptible to a loss at any time due to their mental inconsistencies.
Maybe, but take a look at the following efforts from Dolgopolov, he's definitely a player who likes a quick dollar, no risk.
US Open - First Round, 2016, retired at 5-6 to Ferrer. $43,000 for that effort.
Cincinnati - First Round, 2016, retired at 5-7 to Anderson. $15,480 pay day.
Rio De Janeiro - Quarter Final, 2016 ( against Nadal ) withdrew before match. $41,000
Wimbledon - First Round , 2017, retired at 3-6, 0-3 to Federer. $41,000
Ricoh Open, Netherlands, 2017, Round of 16, retired at 6-7, 2-4 to Pospisil. $12,000
Miami, 2017, First Round, retired at 6-7 to Jaziri. $16,000
Indian Wells, 2017, Second Round, retired at 7-6, 1-1 to Kohlschreiber. $22,325
Rio Open, 2017, Quarter Final, retired at 6-7, 7-6, 0-1 to Carreno- Busta. $39,500
So in the last two seasons Alexandr Dolgopolov has picked up around $230,000 US Dollars for NOT finishing eight matches or not even turning up at all as was the case in Rio last year.
Did I mention he was an enigma ?
This year at the Argentina Open in February he did not lose a set all tournament which even culminated in a straight sets win over then World Number 5 Kei Nishikori where he picked up a further $97,000.
So what do all the facts and figures mean ?
Unless the authorities can find phone records of illegal activity to dodgy Bookmakers from both Dolgopolov and Monteiro at the Winston- Salem Open this year I would be putting it all in the too hard basket and filing it somewhere safe.
Unless there is proof it will simply be referred to as 'suspicious activity' by a professional sports person.
I will leave you with a ten minute video of the match in question. If you have time, take a look, it's almost comical at some stages, including match point where I believe a 12 year old kid could have perhaps put in more of an effort.
What do I think ?
I think Alexander Dolgopolov is his own worst enemy and many have already made up their mind about the match in question.
I believe it is definitely a below par effort from a player who needs to improve his image........
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