During the Skeleton Key mission, Alex makes an enemy of the Chinese triad called Big Circle when he thwarts a plan to fix the Wimbledon tennis championships.

The triad, whose symbol is a large red circle, plan to modify the water dispensers at Wimbledon so that they can drug specific tennis players and rig the tournament as part of a gambling scam.

The triad send another member after Alex when he is surfing in Cornwall. MI6 then send Alex to America, to get him to safety until the situation can be rectified.