TOKYO – Japanese tennis star Akiko Morigami has apologised and denied match-fixing after suggesting she and doubles partner Aiko Nakamura were asked to deliberately lose at the French Open.
Morigami was quoted in weekend media reports as saying that a national coach had asked her to throw their first round match so Nakamura would be free for a singles tournament that could help her qualify for the Beijing Olympics. French Open chiefs at Roland Garros in Paris have announced that they have launched an investigation.Morigami on Monday denied she did anything wrong.”I sincerely apologise for causing tremendous trouble,” she wrote on her blog.”Since we entered in the doubles, we do our best.There is no doubt about this,” she added, without directly commenting on whether she was retracting her original allegations made in France.On her blog, Morigami also quoted Nakamura as saying that she would “do my best without thinking of the Olympics.”The pair suffered a crushing 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Taiwanese fourth seeds Chang Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung on Friday.Nampa-AFPFrench Open chiefs at Roland Garros in Paris have announced that they have launched an investigation.Morigami on Monday denied she did anything wrong.”I sincerely apologise for causing tremendous trouble,” she wrote on her blog.”Since we entered in the doubles, we do our best.There is no doubt about this,” she added, without directly commenting on whether she was retracting her original allegations made in France.On her blog, Morigami also quoted Nakamura as saying that she would “do my best without thinking of the Olympics.”The pair suffered a crushing 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Taiwanese fourth seeds Chang Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung on Friday.Nampa-AFP
