On January 18, the upper echelon of professional tennis was shaken to its core by allegations of widespread match-fixing and corruption. But Queanbeyan Park Tennis Club president Andrew Schmocker believes the grassroots level of the game will remain unscathed by the controversy.
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"I don't think it will effect anything more than the elite level of tennis," he said.
"It will make very little impact on our culture, and what happens in our club, and not only this club, but within the rest of the clubs in Australia."
Schmocker also said the core culture of tennis had not been compromised, with the professional level only being engulfed by match-fixing accusations as a direct result of betting and the scope of money involved in elite matches.
"Where there is money involved there is always going to be somebody who wants to make a buck," Schmocker said.
"The word has been around for quite some time, and not only with tennis but in all pro sports where there is money involved, where there is betting involved, all of it is open to corruption."
The initial report led to the subsequent revelations from players including world number one Novak Djokovic and injured Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis that they had been approached to throw matches in the past.
The problem has been targeted by officials, and Tennis ACT announced that they too have requested spectators to put away their electronic devices when watching ATP sanctioned matches in order to ward off betting-related corruption.
The Queanbeyan Park Tennis Club no longer holds tournaments, but Schmocker said a preventative policy would be looked at if competitive matches were to be reinstated.
"If we do run a tournament it is something that will have to be looked at to really just have a policy to protect the club from anything, but as I said from our level it really makes nil impact," he said.
