Tennis matches are too easy to fix: Navratilova

By Simon Cambers

PERTH (Reuters) - Tennis authorities have a tough task to stop match-fixing because it is too easy to fix results, said Martina Navratilova.

Navratilova, the winner of 59 grand slam titles, said the sport had to do whatever it takes to put an end to the scandals that rocked tennis in 2007.

A match involving Russian world number four Nikolay Davydenko in August is one of several under investigation because of irregular betting patterns.

Several players on the men's tour have admitted being offered money to throw a match but all insist they refused the bribes.

"It's pretty new this match-fixing idea," Navratilova told reporters at the Hopman Cup in Perth on Monday.

"So we'll see where it goes (but) of course, if it is a problem, it's pretty easy to throw a tennis match because it's so hard to prove.

"We have to make sure that the sport stays clean, both on the drug side as well as any kind of betting scandal. We have to keep it clean whatever it takes."

"We need to make sure that, most of all, the players understand what's at stake here."

The Australian Open, the first grand-slam event of the year which begins in Melbourne on January 14, will introduce a set of security measures, including the banning of unauthorized laptops in the stands.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)