PARIS—The Russian tennis player arrested on suspicion of match-fixing at last year’s French Open was released from police custody on Friday, judicial officials told The Associated Press.
Yana Sizikova, who was arrested Thursday in Paris after competing in a French Open doubles match, was not formally charged after questioning but remains under investigation, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
The 26-year-old Sizikova denies the allegations, according to her lawyer, Frederic Belot. He told the AP that Sizikova wants to file a complaint for defamation.
The prosecutor’s office said Sizikova was arrested for “sports bribery and organized fraud for acts likely to have been committed in September 2020.”
The case was opened last October by a French police unit specializing in betting fraud and match-fixing. It has previously worked with Belgian authorities investigating suspect matches at the lower levels of professional tennis.
The French tennis federation said it could not provide further information because the investigation is ongoing.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency, which investigates match-fixing in the sport, declined to comment on the details of the case but said in a message to the AP that “there has been ongoing liaison between the ITIA and law enforcement in France.”
Speaking to the AP in a phone interview, her lawyer said Sizikova was “extremely shocked.”
“She was placed in custody like a criminal. She says she is innocent and did not want me to assist her during her questioning because she considers herself like a victim,” Belot said.
