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Navratilova has doubts

PERTH - Former tennis great Martina Navratilova expressed her doubts on Monday as to the potential effectiveness of an Australian Open crackdown on tennis corruption.

"(We're) pretty new to this match-fixing idea," said the first-time television commentator at the Hopman Cup mixed teams event. "We'll see where it goes.

"It's pretty easy to throw a tennis match, so it will be pretty hard to prove, but we'll have to make sure the sport stays clean."

When the first Grand Slam of the season starts on January 14, laptops are to be banned courtside and a police supremo is to head up an anti-corruption office.

In the wake of match-fixing allegations that rocked the men's game during the last half of the 2007 season, officials were hoping to project a squeaky-clean image.

Other measures include a hotline to report suspected corruption and restricted access by accredited badge holders to players. - Sapa-dpa

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