Former French tennis player's plan to appeal a match-fixing suspension backfires on him

Retired tennis star Rafael Nadal explains how a nutritionist encouraged him to add toast with anchovies to his morning routine, saying the combination of protein and carbohydrates became a regular breakfast during the latter part of his playing career. (This video contains AI-assisted content.)

A former French tennis player has seen his ban for match fixing bumped up to three years after his attempt at appealing the initial penalty backfired.

Samuel Bensoussan, a 34-year-old from France, was initially suspended for one year and 11 months after he was found to have fixed four matches.

The Frenchman's actions were tied to a wide-ranging match-fixing syndicate set up in Belgium by a man named Grigor Sargsyan.

A former French tennis player has had his suspension for match fixing upped from just under two years to three. (iStock)

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According to The Athletic, citing documents from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), this syndicate was involved in fixing a stunning 375 matches at a minimum, and involved 1,500 conspirators.

However, Bensoussan, whose suspension started in May of 2025, opted to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Of the 18 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Protocol Bensoussan was charged with, all but one were proven. However, in his appeal, he alleged that he had been pulled into the situations due to false accusations from former tennis player Mick Lescure.

Lescure was handed a lifetime ban in 2022 for, you guessed it, match fixing.

Bensoussan — who has turned to coaching and previously hit a singles career high-water mark of No. 405 back in 2018 — wasn't the only party