Father 'killed tennis stars' opponent'

The father of two tennis prodigies has been arrested in France on suspicion of killing an opponent by drugging his water bottle.

Christophe Fauviau, whose daughter Valentine, 13, is described as the country's number one in her age group, is accused of using an anti-depressant that made his children's rivals sleepy during matches.

School teacher Alexandre Lagadere, 25, who played M Fauviau's gifted son Maxime, 16, last month, died when he fell asleep at the wheel while driving home from the match.

Tests found no traces of drugs or alcohol in M Lagadere's blood, but they did show he had consumed Temesta, an antidepressant he had not been prescribed and was never seen to take.

The case has sent shockwaves through the French tennis community where M Fauviau, 40, is well-known as an intensely competitive father who is said to be obsessed with the progression of his children's careers.

If convicted of causing death by poisoning, he faces a sentence of up to 20 years.

Detectives are now interviewing opponents of both Maxime and Valentine. She plays in international tournaments and is expected to progress to a lucrative professional career.

M Fauviau was arrested by police at Dax station in southwest France as he returned from watching Valentine compete in Egypt.

An officer investigating the alleged poisoning said: "The big question is how long this has been going on and how many players are concerned."

The regional Sud-Ouest newspaper has reported that local clubs were buzzing with rumours about how the Fauviaus' opponents frequently failed to perform and were dogged by tiredness.

"On each occasion the symptoms were the same. Unusual tiredness and then somnolence," Sud-Ouest claimed. On the day he died, M Lagadere had abandoned his match against Maxime after one set, complaining he was too tired to continue.

At the Bascons tournament in south-west France, which Maxime won at the end of June, his semi-final opponent alleged to police that he had seen M Fauviau tampering with his water bottle. The opponent refused to drink from the bottle, but was still beaten by Maxime. His next opponent, the tournament's losing finalist, has since started a court action after complaining of feeling unwell following the match and spending two days in hospital.

The death of M Lagadere has prompted police in Dax to investigate links between all three cases.

The public prosecution office in Mont-de-Marsan said in a statement M Fauviau had been charged with "administering a harmful substance that caused death without intending to do so.

"The inquiry must continue to check the circumstances in which the harmful substances could have been put into the tennis players' bottles".

Meanwhile Jacques Dupre, president of the tennis league in south-west France, said: "We are stunned, overwhelmed by the consequences of these acts if they turn out to be true. This is totally over our heads."

M Fauviau has been detained in custody.