Mardy Fish and Bob Bryan have been fined and banned for four months after they were guilty of promoting gambling on social media.
Mardy Fish and Bob Bryan have been reprimanded by The Internation Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and have been issued a fine of $10,000 each. They eventually removed the posts from social media but the damage had already been done.
Fish explained in an email to the Associated Press that the promo for Draftkings involving him and Bryan was shot during the US Open and both the coaches had no idea that it was against the law.
“Bob and I did a Draftkings promo during the U.S. Open that we were unaware we weren’t allowed to do. As soon as we found out, I deleted the posts and cooperated with the ITIA.”
Fish has been the captain of the US Davis Cup team since 2019. Bryan stepped in for the role of an acting captain when Fish was sidelined with COVID-19 earlier in the year. According to the sport’s anti-corruption program, anyone who falls under its jurisdiction, is not allowed to “directly or indirectly facilitate, encourage and/or promote” betting on tennis. Both Fish and Bryan fell under this category and hence they were fined.
Team USA was ousted in the quarterfinals by Italy in Malaga, Spain this past week. The European nation picked up a 2-1 win.
Lorenzo Sonego defeated Frances Tiafoe in the first of three matches in the semi-final clash to give Italy first blood. In the second tie, Taylor Fritz managed to get the better of Lorenzo Musetti to set up a doubles decider. Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli managed to defeat Jack Sock and Tommy Paul to give Italy the win.
Mardy Fish received a lot of backlash from the fans as he did not pick the top-ranked American doubles player, Rajeev Ram in the team.
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