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Online gambling company Betfair has voided all bets on an ATP Tour tennis match in an unprecedented move.

Betfair received bets worth $7 million (£3.4 million) during the first set of yesterday's second-round match between world number four Nikolay Davydenko and Argentine outsider Martin Vasalla Arguello at the Sopot Open.

As this was ten times the usual amount it chose to void all betting on the match and has pledged to return all stakes to bettors.

Davydenko lost the first set 6-2 but took the second 6-3 and was leading 2-1 when injury forced him to retire.

Managing director Mark Davis told this morning's Today programme: "The odds seemed very strange given what was happening in the match. At the beginning of the match if you bet a pound on Davydenko you would get 20p back.

"He then won the first set, but if you put a pound on him at that point, a set up, it would have paid out £4.30; considerably more even though he was winning, so it does look strange.

"We do have some legal restrictions but we are going to see what we can do to make sure that we act in the interests of our customers and make sure that the position is fair."

Betfair has turned its betting information over to ATP officials, who will compare the price movements with the progress of the match.

"They are in the happy position that they have the exact timing, they have information from us and so they can make decisions accordingly," he explained.