WIMBLEDON, England -- Nikolay Davydenko suspects he inadvertently became ensnared in a betting scandal by talking too loudly to his wife during a tournament in Poland last year.
Davydenko spoke at length about the ongoing match-fixing investigation after his 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Benjamin Becker on Tuesday -- the fifth time in seven years he has lost in the first round at Wimbledon.
Davydenko, seeded fourth, said he had done nothing wrong in Poland and was confident he would be cleared in the ATP investigation.
Betfair, an online bookmaker, voided all bets on a match between Davydenko and Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello in Sopot on Aug. 2 after the Russian player retired, citing a foot injury in the third set.
The betting agency said it received about $7 million in wagers on the match, 10 times the usual amount for a similar-level match. Most of the money was on the 87th-ranked Arguello, even after he lost the first set.
Asked for a possible explanation Tuesday, Davydenko said it was a small tournament, with lots of Russian spectators and that some of them might have overheard him talking to his entourage in the stands.
"Everything was going on. I spoke in the center court with my wife ... (in) Russian," he said. "Maybe it's possible, if I can say something, 'I don't want to play or I can retire.' ... some people can understand.
"It may be my mistake because I need to be quiet, I need to be concentrating, I need to do only my job. Not to do something, talking with anyone or something like this in the stadium."
That sort of inside information could have sparked the flood of telephone or internet betting.
But the 27-year-old Russian shrugged off concerns for the outcome of the investigation, saying he's denied any involvement in illegal betting for a year, the investigators have no proof of any wrongdoing and "what's happening is happening."
"I try to defend me how possible," he said. "I don't know how long I can defend me more. Maybe (until) the end of my career."
Davydenko insisted he had given investigators appointed by the ATP all the information they had asked for, including his and his wife's phone records, except for some of his brother's phone records that were not available.
He said he was comfortable about continuing to play, despite the investigation, but it had been a "bad dream."
