Australian Open: How former junior champion Oliver Anderson is trying to rebuild his career after match-fixing ban

Realizing that undercover police officers were waiting outside the court was the moment Oliver Anderson knew he had been struck.

Anderson had just lost in the second round of an ATP tournament, but it was his previous match – in which he won in three sets – that caught the attention of the authorities.

“Everyone who was watching that match would have immediately thought something had happened,” the Australian recalls.

In January 2016, Anderson won the boys’ singles title at the Australian Open in front of a home crowd, demonstrating his potential in a field that included future top 10 stars Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur.

Nine months later, a Brisbane teenager was arrested for throwing a bunch.

A decade later, the 27-year-old – who returned to the professional ranks after being sparked by a “quarter-life crisis” – is still uncomfortable talking in depth about the details.

He told BBC Sport: “It all happened very quickly. They called me, decided it was doable, I do it, and then I walked off the field in serious trouble.”

Match-fixing gangs, known for exploiting vulnerable victims, contacted Anderson in the days leading up to the now-infamous Challenger event in Traralgon, Australia.

The young player’s progress had been hampered by injury following his win in Melbourne, and after losing his income for several months following surgery, he thought deliberately dropping a set would be an easy way to meet his financial obligations.

Shots from the match, external Damn it. A long, winding second serve is followed by 704th-ranked Anderson casually hitting an easy return into the net.

Fellow Australian Harrison Lomby dropped out of the top 1,500 but won the first set – as the conspirators had planned – before fighting back against Anderson to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Anderson says he doesn’t know how this was reported to police. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, external A betting business became suspicious when a gambler tried to pocket A$10,000 (£5,000) on Lumpy, who won the opening match.

The next day, feeling guilty and remorseful, Anderson lost 6-2, 6-2 to John Patrick Smith.

“All I could think was, ‘This is absolutely crazy, and only I know what’s going on,'” Anderson says.

“Then I was received by the secret police. I knew I had made a huge mistake.”