Novak Djokovic addresses report that he tanked a match in 2007

MELBOURNE, Australia – Days after the BBC and Buzzfeed released a joint investigative report claiming that at least 16 top tennis players have been involved in match-fixing, rumors are starting to swirl around the Australian Open.

Italian newspaper Tutto Sport published a story on Wednesday naming Novak Djokovic, the world's No. 1 player, among the group involved. The paper wrote that Djokovic possibly "swung his match against Fabrice Santoro at Bercy in 2007." Djokovic denied the allegation on Wednesday night.

It was a match that Djokovic played shortly after having his wisdom teeth pulled. In his press conference following that 2007 match, Djokovic had admitted he was not 100 percent. He said he played at about 30 percent, adding, "I'm still on medications. I didn't practise for a whole week, I only started practicing two days ago. Physically, I'm not feeling at all good. It's been a very long season and I'm really exhausted. I hope people will understand.”

Reporter Ben Rothenberg put the 2007 match in context:

By the time Djokovic entered his post-match press conference after his second-round win at the Australian Open on Wednesday night, the allegations were the hotter subject than his victory.

When a reporter mentioned the Tutto Sport article, Djokovic said he had not heard about it. He did remember the match. The exchange continued, with the reporter asking, "It was in a newspaper called Tutto Sport in Italy. The suggestion was you lost on purpose." Djokovic responded. "It's not true."

“Until somebody comes out with the real proof and evidence, it's only a speculation for me," Djokovic responded. “I think that certain media is just trying to create a story out of it without any proof. So as long as it's like that, it's just a story.”

"You can pick any match that you like that the top player lost and just create a story out of it," he added. “Especially these days when there is a lot of speculations, this is now the main story in tennis, in sports world, there's going to be a lot of allegations. I think it's not supported by any kind of proof, any evidence, any facts. It's just speculation. So I don't think there is a story about it. I think it's just absurd.”

Earlier in the week Djokovic had spoken openly about a member of his team being approached by an alleged fixer in 2007. He said the associate was offered about $200,000, but the offer never even made it to Djokovic, because his team did not let it get that far.

Djokovic is just one of the top names being mentioned in the reports, as many scramble to try to pin down the names that the BBC and Buzzfeed refused to reveal. Fernando Verdasco also denied involvement, as the subject took over his press conference after he pulled off a stunning first-round win over Rafael Nadal. A data visualization blog based in Amsterdam released a list of 15 names that did not include Djokovic but did include Lleyton Hewitt, the two-time Grand Slam champion who plans to retire when his current Australian Open run ends.