There were plenty of easy victories in the men�s singles at Wimbledon yesterday, there just wasn�t anything suspicious about them. But SW19 had awoken to whispers of a fresh match- fixing scandal.

There were plenty of easy victories in the men's singles at Wimbledon yesterday, there just wasn't anything suspicious about them.

SW19 had awoken to whispers of a fresh match- fixing scandal, with anti- corruption authorities called into examine unusual betting patterns during Tuesday's straight sets victory by Austria's Jurgen Melzer over American Wayne Odesnik.

Betfair, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes all stopped taking bets on the match which ended 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to the Austrian and contacted the Tennis Integrity Unit to report what they called extreme' gambles on a match for which they expected little traffic. The unit will determine whether anything sinister was afoot or if the cash simply reflected fans' judgment that the little-fancied Odesnik was carrying an injury and likely to lose heavily.

But with world No.2 Roger Federer and No.4 Novak Djokovic speaking candidly about the subject after equally one-sided victories yesterday, no-one was likely to dismiss the burning issue of the day lightly. "We don't talk about it in the locker room," Federer said, after his imperious 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 dismissal of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Centre Court. "But it has happened more frequently than we talk about it. You know, whether it is happening or not, we are suspecting. We're not sure. But those kind of things have no place in tennis."

The Swiss wasn't finished there. He revealed that the match-fixing topic had been aired on the ATP player council, of which he is president. And he insisted that massive bans are required for anyone who gets caught. Previous match-fixing controversies in tennis have centred on Nikolay Davydenko's match against Martin Vassallo Argello in Sopot on August 2, 2007, although both were officially cleared of any involvement back in September, while intrigue has surrounded matches at Wimbledon in recent years.

"It is hard to control," Federer said. "I'm sure the ATP and the ITF are trying their best to catch those guys - if there are any out there. I think we should have massive bans on those who get caught so they get really scared of doing it. We talk about it on the player council. These are things definitely we're trying to fight. We can't avoid that there are some funny results sometimes, here and there. But that doesn't mean it is really happening."

Federer has expended less effort getting through two rounds than Andy Murray has in one, as he chases a record 15th grand slam title, despite facing an opponent yesterday who was at a career-high ranking of 42nd in the world and reached the semi-finals at Eastbourne last week.

The only logistical difficulty remains the imminent arrival of his first child, with his wife Mirka opting out of Centre Court yesterday. "She only felt 95%, so we decided it's better if she takes it easy instead of sitting in the sun, maybe feeling worse the next day," Federer said. "It's important for her to rest."

Hardly over-exerted himself, last year's beaten finalist will now face Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round, the 27th seed winning 8-6 in the fifth set against Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic.

The match-fixing theme was also taken up by Djokovic after his 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Simon Greul of Germany took him further than he managed at SW19 last year. "I've never personally experienced anything like that," Djokovic said. "But I've heard about it in many cases that the players have been involved. I cannot say if it's true or not for individuals. But this is certainly something that we have to fight against, because it doesn't deserve a place in our sport."

Also through to the third round without breaking sweat yesterday were No.9 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who won by a walkover against Italian Simone Bolelli and Tommy Haas, whose opponent Michael Llodra retired hurt with the score standing at 3-1 to Haas in the first set. A better game eventually arrived in the last game on centre court, Croatian No.11 seed Marin Cilic beating Sam Querrey in five see-saw sets.

At least one contest remained in the balance until the very end.