Mark Miles, head of the governing body of the men's tour, warned of severe penalties for anyone violating rules on gambling and added that the body had been aware for some time of reports of irregular betting patterns in tennis.

But he added he had "enormous confidence" in the integrity of the players.

Speaking in the wake of a newspaper report claiming that players had thrown matches for financial gain, Miles added that he would like to see an end to betting on all tennis matches.

He recognised, though, that the explosion of internet gambling would make that all but impossible and promised to collect as much information as possible on betting on the sport.

"We are aware, and have been aware for some time, that there are rumours, primarily in the gambling industry, about some irregular betting patterns in tennis," Miles said at a news conference at the Madrid Masters.

"We are doing everything we can do to collect all the information possible about what goes on out there in a big, decentralised cyber world. I believe there's no other step we can take at this time.

"If we get to a point where we have solid information about anything untoward happening in our sport we will act and we will act very decisively."

FOCUSED ON GAMBLING

The ATP are aware that gambling scandals have battered the image of other sports.

"A few years ago when cricket experienced problems we began to be very focused on gambling," Miles said.

"We were then, and we are now, determined to be knowledgeable, to be proactive, and to do whatever can be done to ensure that we are protecting the integrity of the sport.

"Financially, if a player were found guilty of gambling he would pay a $100,000 fine, plus whatever might have been involved in the wagering, and could, and I assure you, would, be suspended from the sport for up to three years.

"Three years is a lifetime. That's really a capital sentence in our sport."

A major breakthrough in the fight against match-fixing was achieved when the ATP entered into an agreement with internet betting company Betfair.

"They can provide us, and do provide us, with detailed information about the accounts they have," Miles explained.

The agreement is similar to one the betting exchange has with the Jockey Club. Under the agreement, the ATP can ask to see betting patterns.

It can make a further request for named betting details, but these will only be supplied if Betfair are "100 percent satisfied" that there is a case to answer.

A spokesman for the company said that transparency was paramount.

A report in the Sunday Telegraph alleged that "fixes" came to light when bookmakers discovered some matches were attracting far greater betting turnover than expected.

BETTING SUSPENDED

Last week bookmakers suspended betting on the match between Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia and Spain's Fernando Vicente in Lyon six hours before it was due to start after receiving bets from "marked accounts".

Although there is no suggestion that either player was involved in wrongdoing, according to the Racing Post a huge worldwide gamble was made on Vicente, who won 6-2 6-3.

The Spaniard had not won since June, losing 11 first-round matches until Lyon. His odds were reduced from 7-2 to odds-on favourite on one of the internet betting exchanges.

Miles denied that an official investigation into that match had taken place but said the ATP were confident, after receiving the standard report of an on-site supervisor, that both players had given their best.

"There was a conclusion on site...that Yevgeny, he might not have played his best tennis, but he was giving a professional effort," he said.

One firm, Skybet, has stopped accepting bets on the early rounds of minor events.