World Anti-Doping Agency President Craig Reedie warned that the organization is "prepared to go to court to demand a tougher sanction if it believes that Maria Sharapova has been let off the hook after her positive drugs test," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. Reedie said that he would be "watching very carefully" for the outcome of the tribunal that will rule on Sharapova, 28, who tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open. Sharapova’s lawyer has "made it clear that her legal team will be pushing hard for a short ban, or even none at all." WADA, however, "has the power to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to increase the ban." Reedie: "In most cases we exercise that right when we think there is a really serious case to answer. There will clearly be a great deal of interest in what the International Tennis Federation [ITF] do. My guess is we will watch this one very carefully." Sharapova's lawyer, John J. Haggerty, has "insisted that the Russian had not been taking a high-enough dose of the drug for it to have enhanced performance." He added that they were "looking at all the options" after being asked if they would apply for a retrospective therapeutic use exemption -- "a move that could avoid a ban altogether." Such a decision "would probably trigger an appeal from the anti-doping agency, especially after new research revealed the widespread use of meldonium by athletes at the European Games in Baku last June" (LONDON TIMES, 3/10).
NADAL: In London, Simon Cambers reported Rafael Nadal has said that he believes Sharapova should pay for the "negligence" that led to her failing a doping test at this year's Australian Open. Nadal said, "I want to believe that for sure it is a mistake for Maria, that she didn’t want to do it, but it is a negligence so the rules are like this. It’s fair, so now she must pay for it." Asked whether he personally read all communications on anti-doping, the Spaniard replied, "To be honest I don’t read it. I have my doctor that I have confidence in. My doctor is the doctor of the Spanish tennis federation for a lot of years. He is the doctor of all the Spanish tennis players so I have full confidence in him. And I never take anything that he doesn’t know" (GUARDIAN, 3/10). In Sydney, Linda Pearce wrote Nadal "vigorously" defended himself against longstanding doping-related rumors. Nadal: "I don't know nothing about this medicine, but it's obvious that since this year that's forbidden." Nadal said a fair bit more, "praising the sport's anti-doping system while robustly defending himself against long-standing doping speculation" with an indignant "no f---ing way," denying there had "ever been any temptation to transgress, and stressing the importance of the example sports set for society and its children." Nadal said, "If I am doing something against that, then I am lying to myself, lying to my opponents. That would be something really bad for me" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 3/10).
NOBODY LIKES ME: Also in Sydney, Will Swanton wrote Sharapova is "virtually friendless" on the WTA Tour. She has "always been a notoriously distant and dismissive figure in the locker room." Sharapova once said, "It's pretty hard being a tennis player and Mother Teresa at the same time. That's just the way it is." Having "shunned most of her peers for more than a decade, they're not exactly treating her like a leper in her darkest hours, but they’re hardly begging for her immediate return." When Simona Halep was asked if she had spoken to Sharapova this week, the world No, 5 said, "No. I did not speak with Maria before this, either. There is no relationship." Spain's world No. 4 Garbiñe Muguruza said, "It's very dangerous to take anything. The line is very thin. This is shocking with Maria but I think it shows the anti-doping system works" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 3/11).
