The decision was revealed at a press conference at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.

The investigation will be conducted by London-based sports law expert Adam Lewis QC.

Philip Brook, chairman of the Tennis Integrity Board, said the governing bodies had committed to adopting all recommendations made by the review, which would be made public.

“We are determined to do everything we need to do to remove corruption from our sport, hence the announcement of this independent review and our commitment today to implement all of the recommendations of the review and to fund them in full,” Brook said.

The review comes in response to a BBC-BuzzFeed report released on the eve of the Australian Open that claimed tennis authorities failed to thoroughly pursue evidence of match-fixing.

“I would say certainly the events of the last ten days have caused damage to our sport. There is no getting away from that. We remain totally confident in the work of the Tennis Integrity Unit,” said Brook.

“However we do think it is really important that we conduct this independent review in order that all of you and everybody who loves our sport and watches our sport can have the knowledge and the comfort that an independent review has taken place and that we are doing all that we can do to make sure the integrity of the sport is maintained.”

The Tennis Integrity Unit was set up in 2008 when the ATP and WTA tours, the ITF and the Grand Slam Committee adopted an anti-corruption code to make sure the same rules and penalties applied across tennis.

– AAP