Nearly every day, his name is in the newspapers and on TV — not because of his No. 4 ranking, but for a match three months ago that tennis' governing body is investigating as part of a possible match-fixing scandal.

Has it affected Davydenko's game? Maybe. Has it affected his mental state? Clearly.

"I'm very angry," the Russian said today on the eve of the Masters Cup. "If you read something in the press, it's bad news. People ask me: 'True or not?' It can bother you."

While the other seven singles players in this elite field were answering questions about their fitness and opponents, every question aimed at Davydenko had to do with off-court issues. His wife and brother have been questioned in the investigation. Officials want to look at his phone records.

Such a constant focus has left him "mentally tired always," Davydenko said.

ATP president Etienne de Villiers, asked about the investigation during a news conference, was careful to say it was focused on unusual betting patterns during Davydenko's match at the Poland Open in August — when he retired while trailing in the third set against Martín Vassallo Arguello of Argentina — and not specifically on either player.

"Our job is to connect the dots," de Villiers said, while admitting the difficulties involved in proving whether a player threw a match.

"We've got the very best investigators looking into what happened," he said. "There's never a guarantee that we would get a result. We need to try to understand what happened, where the money was placed, by whom, and how, if there was information that was inside, how that information was transmitted."

Whatever the outcome, Davydenko worries about permanent damage to his reputation — a considerable concern with the fortunes that top players can make on endorsements.

"It's very hard to get your reputation back once people believe you're in a certain position," de Villiers said.

Betfair, an online gambling company, voided all bets on the Davydenko-Arguello match after unusually large amounts were wagered on the lowly ranked Argentine throughout the match, even after he lost the first set 6-1.

Since then, several players — none in the higher rankings — have reported being approached and offered money to fix matches.

Davydenko's lawyer, Frank ImmengaI, said Friday that ATP investigators told him that nine people based in Russia had bet $1.5 million on Davydenko losing the match to Arguello. Another two gamblers, whose location isn't known, boosted the total amount waged to $6.9 million, he said.

Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that the investigators questioned Davydenko's wife about the player's ability to withstand pain since he reportedly received treatment before and during the Poland match.

Davydenko's troubles have piled up since the betting investigation began.

He was fined $2,000 by the ATP for "lack of best effort" during a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss to Marin Cilic at St. Petersburg last month, then was jeered by the crowd — and criticized by the chair umpire — while committing 10 double faults in a straight-set loss to Marcos Baghdatis in Paris.