The Australian Open junior champion Oliver Anderson is the latest tennis player to be charged with match-fixing, according to reports in Australia. The talented 18-year-old was named by the Age newspaper in Melbourne as being approached to throw the first set of his first-round match at the Traralgon Challenger tournament in October against another Australian, Harrison Lombe.

Victorian police confirmed they had charged an 18-year-old man with “engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome”, adding that they had worked closely with bookmakers in their investigation. They did not reveal the name of the player but said he would appear at the Latrobe Valley magistrates court on 2 March.

In the match which forms the centre of the allegations, Anderson was broken at 4-4 in the first set after two double faults and went on to lose the first set. However, he recovered to win the match by taking the next two sets 6-0, 6-2.

Anderson, who is ranked No743 in the world, lost his next match at the US$50,000 (£40,000) tournament,which was played by those on the second rung of professional tennis.

The Guardian can reveal that the Tennis Integrity Unit, which was considerably beefed up following a series of revelations last year about impropriety in the sport, was also involved.

A spokesman told the Guardian “The TIU has worked closely with Victoria Police in Australia to support their investigations into alleged match fixing in tennis. Investigation and prosecution of corruption allegations by law enforcement agencies takes precedence over tennis disciplinary action. Once any criminal proceedings have been concluded, the TIU will continue to progress investigations under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.”

Any player who is found guilty of match-fixing by the TIU would face a sanction ranging from a suspended sentence to a $250,000 fine and a life ban. Last year a Guardian investigation exposed a series of problems in the lower levels of tennis, including revelations that six umpires had been secretly banned or suspended for taking bribes from betting syndicates in exchange for delaying the entry of live scores into their official computers. This allowed crooked gamblers to place bets already knowing the outcome of the next point.

A number of players have also been suspended for match-fixing in recent months. They include the world No187 Marco Cecchinato, who was banned for 18 months and fined €40,000 (£34,000), after he was accused of fixing two of his matches and using confidential information for gambling. Two of his accomplices, Riccardo Accardi and Antonio Campo, were also suspended. Meanwhile, the Mexican tennis player Daniel Garza was banned for six months and given a $5,000 fine after being found guilty of a match-fixing charge.

An independent review into the integrity of tennis, which will examine allegations of corruption in the sport and the effectiveness of existing anti-corruption practices and procedures, is expected to report shortly.