Australian Open junior champion OLIVER ANDERSON has been "provisionally suspended over claims of match-fixing in his native Australia." Anderson, 18, has "not been found guilty but will be suspended from professional tennis until the conclusion of the Tennis Integrity Unit's investigation." Victoria Police said that the charges "relate to a match at the Traralgon Challenger tournament in Victoria last October" (BBC, 2/9). ... Former Tour de France stage winner and Belgian champion SERGE BAGUET has died, aged 47, "after suffering from cancer." Baguet was diagnosed with the disease in late '14 "after feeling severe abdominal pain on a bike ride" (CYCLING NEWS, 2/9). ... League Championship side Newcastle United midfielder CHEICK TIOTE "joined Chinese second-tier side Beijing Enterprises Group FC for an undisclosed fee." The Ivorian made 139 league appearances for Newcastle after joining them in Aug. '10 from Dutch side Twente (BBC, 2/9). ... Returning Lotte Giants slugger LEE DAE-HO "is the top-paid player in the Korea Baseball Organization." The KBO announced the number of registered players in the country's top baseball league and their salaries Thursday, and the 34-year-old first baseman receives an annual salary of 2.5B won ($2.2M). After playing five seasons in Japan and the U.S., Lee rejoined the Giants on a four-year, 15B won ($13.1M) contract last month (KOREA TIMES, 2/9). ... Tennis player SANIA MIRZA has been "issued notice by the Service Tax department in connection with alleged non-payment or evasion of service tax." The Principal Commissioner of the Service Tax office in Hyderabad "issued the summons" to Mirza on Feb. 6, asking her to appear before it in person or through an authorized agent on Feb. 16 (PTI, 2/9). ... SERGIO PEREZ has "thrown his support behind a Mexican Grand Prix initiative to show solidarity for his country, in light of the fallout" being caused by American President DONALD TRUMP's attempts to build a wall between the two nations. Perez is "fully behind an initiative by the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to display the popular social media hashtag #BridgesNotWalls, and has taken part in a photo shoot at the track to show his approval of the idea" (MOTORSPORT, 2/9).
