Nikolay Davydenko says it's ridiculous to suggest he has links with the Russian mafia and that they pressured him into throwing a match last year.

"This talk about Russian mafia is like something out of a movie," Davydenko told AAP.

"It's like some Russian people say, 'you guys are watching too much James Bond movies'."

Davydenko once again declared his innocence after cruising into the fourth round of the Australian Open and said he would probably take legal action against Betfair once - as he expects - the ATP clears him of match-fixing.

The ATP is investigating Davydenko's clash with 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in Sopot, Poland, last August after the UK-based online betting site voided all wagers on the match because of suspicious betting patterns.

Davydenko retired trailing 2-1 in the third set and maintains he simply couldn't play on with a stress fracture of the foot.

"I make an examination straight after and (received treatment) for pain relief," the world No.4 said.

"Injury-retirements happen in matches."

As his agent Ronnie Leitgeb - ex-Austrian Davis Cup captain and former coach of one-time world No.1 Thomas Muster - put it, Davydenko "was the poor guy getting injured but getting all the shit."

"It's stupid because I'm a top player and I have enough money from prize money and winning tournaments," Davydenko said.

"Why I need to now to (throw a match for money)? It's like impossible.

"I have tournaments every week and I try every match for possibly two or three hours on court to try to make money like this, not like this (match-fixing).

"Everybody is thinking I'm a bad guy. It's pretty tough to say every week to the people 'you know, I didn't do anything wrong'."

Davydenko has had to deal with all sorts of pressures over the last six months, including the ATP demanding to check the phone records of his wife.

But the Ukraine-born, Germany-based, Austrian citizenship-seeking 26-year-old said suggestions he was linked with the Russian mafia were just too much.

Davydenko said he was a nobody in Russia and that his only ties to the country were his parents who live in a tiny town in the former Soviet Union.

"Around me, I have only my wife, my brother, doctor, family, physio ... but I have no mafia around," he said.

"I never even had Russian sponsors because I moved to Germany early and nobody knows about me in Russia.

"I spent no time in Russia. I have no friends to contact in Russia. How can I be involved with Russian mafia if I'm in Germany. The Russian mafia should come to Germany to see me? It's not possible, no.

"In Russia, I don't have any pressure from anyone. Not from the Russian Federation because I've never been with them.

"I don't need to pay back money to anyone. I make my own money and play for myself.

"I have no - how do I say it - pressures. I have no credit to give to anyone. I'm free."

Ironically, Davydenko's camp thinks it is Betfair that is cashing in on the whole saga.

"I think too much promotion by Betfair. Everybody knows what this means - Betfair - now," Davydenko said.

Leitgeb noted that "even before this Sopot case, he was for a long time in the top five. Now he gets famous but we don't get the chance for him to display the character: he is a quiet, nice, polite gentleman.

"We don't want him getting destroyed because one of these betting companies gets a lot of PR off his back.

"This is what is disturbing us so much because in Germany and Austria nobody before knew about Betfair and now they get a lot of promotion and he gets the damage."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP