Ex-Aptos runner-up charged with fixing Aussie match

   Australian Nick Lindahl, the runner-up in the 2009 Aptos Challenger as a qualifier, has been charged with corrupt betting offenses.
   New South Wales police arrested Lindahl, 26, saying he intentionally lost a match in a 2013 Futures tournament in Toowoomba, Australia, the Associated Press reported.
   A betting agency detected unusual gambling patterns and notified police.
   Lindahl reached the Australian Open junior boys final in 2006, losing to Alexandre Sidorenko of France, and fell to countryman Chris Guccione in the 2009 Aptos final. Aptos is located near Santa Cruz in Northern California.
   Also in 2009 Challengers, Lindahl advanced to the semifinals in Tiburon (near San Francisco) as a qualifier and the quarterfinals in Sacramento. He attained a career-high ranking of No. 187 in 2010.
   Lindahl was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court on March 12. He retired in December, according to the AP, but hasn't played in a professional tournament since September 2013.
   Only nine days ago, the Italian Tennis Federation suspended Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali for 40 days while investigating them for possible match fixing.
   A prosecutor told the AP in November that Bracciali partially admitted to fixing during a hearing with investigators. Starace says he's innocent.
   The ATP World Tour suspended Bracciali, Starace and three other Italians -- Alessio Di Mauro, Giorgio Galimberti and Federico Luzzi -- in 2007-08 for terms ranging from six weeks to nine months for betting.
   Banned for life for match fixing were Daniel Koellerer of Austria in 2011, David Savic of Serbia in 2012 and Andrey Kumantsov of Russia last year.
   In addition, one man was charged and five others arrested last year in an Australian police operation against an international match-fixing syndicate, the AP reported.