There is still no evidence, but hints at a corruption problem in professional tennis are coming in volleys.

Two French players, reigning Wimbledon doubles champions, followed by British aces Tim Henman and Andy Murray have made statements about match-fixing attempts. In the first two days of the Paris Masters Series (October 28 to November 4), Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra separately claimed that they had been offered bribes to lose matches.

“It happened to me but I will not tell you where or how,” Clement, a former world top 10, said after his first-round defeat to Mikhail Youzhny on October 29. “I didn’t hesitate for a second, I said no. It may be different for a guy who’s not that high up in the rankings and who has financial problems,” the 29-year-old, now ranked 53rd in the world, said.

The following day, Clement’s doubles partner said: “I was in my hotel room and somebody called to ask me not to try too hard the next day. That was four years ago. I said no and hung up.” Llodra said that he may have been “one of the first players to have been approached”, but with these stories only coming to light now it is difficult to be certain how long this has been going on.

“We have the feeling that a lot of people have been approached,” said Llodra. “There’s a lot of talk about it on the circuit. Wherever there is money, you have crooks. It’s difficult to stop because there is a powerful ring behind it.”

Last month, Murray said that fixed matches on the ATP Tour were common knowledge. In September, Henman raised concerns that betting in tennis was endangering the integrity of the sport. The former world number four told the BBC that he had heard on the grapevine about players being asked to influence the outcome of matches. “I personally have never experienced it but, listening to the players talking, it seems it goes on,” Henman said.

Tennis came under the spotlight in August when a match between Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko and low-ranked Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland was voided by a British online bookmaker because of unusual betting patterns. The world number four withdrew because of injury and has denied any wrongdoing, but was fined $2000 for not trying hard enough during his shock defeat by Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic at the St Petersburg Open last week.

The threat of possible match-fixing is being taken very seriously at the Paris Masters Series tournament, French Tennis Federation (FFT) president Christian Bimes said.

“We consider this a serious problem. It is a dreadful disease which is a threat to tennis worldwide,” Bimes told a news conference on the second day of the last tournament of the regular season.

Betting on matches at the Paris event was being watched for anything suspicious, FFT general director Jean-Francois Vilotte said. Matches were also being recorded and analysed by former players and ATP supervisors while players were banned from betting at the venue.

This week’s BNP Paribas, the ninth and final ATP Masters Series event of the season, will define the last two berths for the Tennis Masters Cup (November 11 to 18 in Shanghai, China). The top eight players in the ATP 2007 Race qualify for Shanghai. Six participants are already sure: Federer; Nadal;. Djokovic; Davydenko; Roddick; and Ferrer.