Comments on: DOPERS, EN GUARD! TOUGH ANTI-DOPING TESTING AT ROLAND GARROS

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:41:29 +0000

I agree that the top players are clean. My thought is that the ones who are the most tempted are the mid-tier players who don’t make the big money and who are looking a way to rise above their talent level.

Reading the article freakyfritters linked to was enlightening. It seems that all the athletes that have tested positive have an innocent explanation for the test results, ala Gasquet and the tampered wine glass. My favorite was the cyclist Tyler Hamilton, who explained why he had another person’s DNA in his sample by saying he had a “vanishing twin.”

By: lk28

lk28 — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:21:34 +0000

If a tennis player ever thought of using performance enhancing drugs, it would have to be at Rolland Garros: 5 sets on the terre battu could drive anyone to artificial help! Nadal and Djokovic used 4 hours for 3 sets. (Of course, about one hour was bouncing the ball before the serve.)
Like everyone else here, I don’t think Nadal has used steroids, despite all those muscles. He is just a weight-lifting fanatic.
My hope (and expectation) is that everyone is clean — certainly all the top players. The bigger risk is that there will be a false positive and some poor guy will have to spend a year of his life trying to clear himself.

By: ThyGodisTennis

ThyGodisTennis — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:54:37 +0000

I also think Nadal is clean. Spain has not had a good history with the juice.

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:46:10 +0000

Haha, TGiT! You and your elephant are free to have a party, here, I just personally don’t like to speculate (And I do think that Rafa is clean as a whistle, anyway.)

By: ThyGodisTennis

ThyGodisTennis — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:40:08 +0000

Agreed. Tennis is about constant offense/defense strategy.

It will be interesting to hear what the players think.

I will shuffle the elephant out the door.

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:40:52 +0000

Ha! Liz, you an I should play sometime, I think we’re at about the same level

I DON’T think doping is a big problem in pro tennis – as opposed to sports like baseball and cycling. Obviously the “draconian” WADA (World Anti-doping Agency) strictures that the ITF’s signed onto are a big help. As a fan, I am VERY proud of how clean our sport is – and give my baseball-loving friends all kinds of grief for the insane amount of doping that goes on (precisely because such strict testing procedures aren’t in place.)

And as much as doping can give you an advantage in tennis (see Mariano Puerta) I don’t think it gives you a big enough advantage to make it worth the risk. Liz, I’ve hear many pros say the same things your did – that tennis is way too mental a game to benefit that much from doping. Otherwise, we’d see more of it.

In terms of specific players (or elephants), I really prefer not to throw out any names. Innocent until proven guilty, I say, and “doper” is a serious slur. Maybe I’m naive, but I do think that the guys at the top are clean. That said, it will be really interesting to see how this story develops.

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:26:49 +0000

Thanks for the explanation! I guess my tennis playing is on such a primitive level, I don’t worry about speed and stamina. I’m still working on getting the ball over the net! : )

So, do you think doping is a big problem in professional tennis?

By: freakyfritters

freakyfritters — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:42:47 +0000

I’d say it would be ALL about stamina, speed, and power. cyclists, Olympic runners, baseball players, or any athlete for that matter. Its all the same reason/goal.
Cyclists do blood-doping. It helps with their long endurance. Basically getting pumped up with extra blood into their system just before a race. Crazy huh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping

By: ThyGodisTennis

ThyGodisTennis — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:35:37 +0000

Dear Naive-

Nerve, footwork and smarts require equal parts stamina and speed. You need both to win a tournament. You could have great tennis skills like Mardy Fish or Taylor Dent but you know those guys are carrying way too much weight to strategize a game plan that would survive over a long tournament. The other side is Djoko and Mandy. They both have worked on conditioning to improve their all court game and you can see it paid dividends to both. A little juice goes a long way in recovering between matches.

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:22:42 +0000

Maybe I’m naive, but how would doping help tennis players anyway? It seems more a matter of nerve, footwork, and smarts rather than stamina and speed. Obviously, the last two categories help, but they don’t help you with court sense and keeping the ball inside the lines.

By: ThyGodisTennis

ThyGodisTennis — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:00:50 +0000

So…let’s talk about the Majorca elephant in the room.

I mean I have hear the rumors, just rumors I am told.

What have you heard?