Tennis Related - Off Court Serious Issues

[Suliso]

I've been off Zverev fan train for a long time now (was I ever on?). It's also easier to forget about him now that his game and results have declined.

Having said that any punishment is indeed for courts and law enforcement not tennis players union.

[skatingfan]

Professional organizations, leagues, and companies can have standards of behaviour and code of conduct that can result in professional sanctions when violated.

[ashkor87]

Zvonareva was not allowed to enter Poland...
Getting sickening..is she a Russian spy or something?!

[skatingfan]

Zvonareva was not allowed to enter Poland...
Getting sickening..is she a Russian spy or something?!

Well, it wouldn't be the first time that an athlete has been used as a state agent. According to the statement from the Polish government Zvonareva is on a list of Russians whose entry to Poland is blocked for security reasons. I don't think we'll ever know the reason for that, but I would think it should have been communicated to Zvonareva at some point before she entered the tournament, or certainly before she got on a flight.

[ashkor87]

the larger question is - should a country that bars someone from entering, for a purely political reason, be allowed to host a WTA/ATP event? If it is allowed, it is a Pandora's box, it will destroy the game (in my opinion) - tomorrow, Turkey will stop Swedes from entering, Greece will stop Turks, and, as for Americans, there is no shortage of USA's enemies, is there?
if someone can show me that Zvonereva is an actual Russian agent - even if she has advocated the invasion of Ukraine, that is permitted speech, isnt it?

[Suliso]

Is it ok for Pakistanis to come to India for sporting events and vice versa?

[ashkor87]

Yes..recent difficulties have mostly been around safety concerns in Pakistan
But to be fair, I don't defend/support the misguided policies of ANY government..

but see this..

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/6 ... al%20games.

[ponchi101]

This is a government decision, not a decision by the tournament. The tournament is not run by the government, so these are two separate entities.
And, what is a government there for if not to make decisions like this one? If the Polish government believes that Zvonareva poses a risk for the country (admittedly, a bit of a stretch) then they have to act on their assessment.

[mmmm8]

the larger question is - should a country that bars someone from entering, for a purely political reason, be allowed to host a WTA/ATP event? If it is allowed, it is a Pandora's box, it will destroy the game (in my opinion) - tomorrow, Turkey will stop Swedes from entering, Greece will stop Turks, and, as for Americans, there is no shortage of USA's enemies, is there?
if someone can show me that Zvonereva is an actual Russian agent - even if she has advocated the invasion of Ukraine, that is permitted speech, isnt it?

It doesn't seem like Poland is banning all Russian people (although I don't think they're issuing many new visas to Russians), she must have gotten on a sanctioned list for a reason - the speculation is it's because she has an honorary military rank. That said, other Russian athletes do too. Could also have to do with her off-court activities, I think she interned or did some work at the Russian foreign ministry as part of her master's degree.

[ponchi101]

Serious question here. Although this sounds like something from a spy novel. IF the Russian government/FSB were to ask a private citizen to do something on their behalf, could such a citizen refuse? Or would such citizen meet an inconveniently placed banana peel while walking along an 8th floor balcony?

[mmmm8]

Serious question here. Although this sounds like something from a spy novel. IF the Russian government/FSB were to ask a private citizen to do something on their behalf, could such a citizen refuse? Or would such citizen meet an inconveniently placed banana peel while walking along an 8th floor balcony?

I don't know if that question is specific to the Russian government, it might be for any government with a developed internal/external security service.
I think the threat in this situation is always publicity, so I don't think those type of services ask random citizens that without getting leverage first. (but I may have read/watched too many spy books/films)

[skatingfan]

If this got posted already I apologize because I missed it, and couldn't find anything.

American tennis player Jenson Brooksby accepted a provisional suspension from the International Tennis Integrity Agency on Wednesday after being accused of missing three doping tests in a 12-month period, he told The Associated Press.

“Taking the provisional suspension is the best decision that we have to make right now,” Brooksby, a 22-year-old from Sacramento, California, said in a telephone interview. “I’ve never failed a drug test. I’ve never taken any bad substances.”

He plans to go to arbitration with the ITIA, which oversees doping cases in tennis.

Under antidoping rules, athletes can be penalized without a positive test if they have three “whereabout failures” within a year’s span.

“‘Whereabouts’ is a pretty tough requirement for them, with how much they’re traveling,” said Howard Jacobs, a lawyer working with Brooksby. “There’s no allegations he took any banned substances and we’re confident about” the case’s outcome.

Jacobs said he expects there to be an arbitration hearing for Brooksby in the next few months.

Jacobs also represents Simona Halep, the two-time Grand Slam champion who recently had a hearing related to charges the ITIA brought against her after she failed a drug test at last year’s U.S. Open.

Brooksby has been ranked as high as No. 33 and is currently at No. 101 after going nearly six months without competing because he needed two operations for dislocated wrist tendons: on his left arm in March, and on his right in May.

He has not played on tour since January, when he upset three-time Grand Slam runner-up Casper Ruud in the second round of the Australian Open before losing to eventual semifinalist Tommy Paul in the third.

Shortly after that tournament, Brooksby split from his longtime coach, Joseph Gilbert.

“Since Australia, it’s, for sure, been the toughest part of my life, having to deal with so many different issues. The wrists were a struggle. Then at the same time, leaving my coach who I had been with since I was 7 years old. But professionally and personally, that was the right thing to do,” he said. “And there is also the doping thing, all within this period. Personal issues, too. I’m really just looking forward to being back on the court and the tour and putting all of it behind me.”

The best run for Brooksby at a major tournament was getting to the fourth round at the 2021 U.S. Open. That’s when he went up against Novak Djokovic — and took a set off of him — but bowed out 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

“The provisional suspension is not an admission that I have done anything wrong; to the contrary, I have denied this charge and am waiting for an arbitration with an independent tribunal. The protocols of the anti-doping program are in place to protect the integrity of our sport, and I respect and support these protocols,” Brooksby wrote in a press release sent to the AP by his advisor, Amrit Narasimhan.

The statement adds that “one of the alleged missed tests” happened in June 2022 two days before the start of an ATP tournament in the Netherlands, and Brooksby writes that he “was at the official tournament hotel where I said I would be, and in my hotel room, and the time that I had said I would be there.”

“It’s frustrating,” Brooksby said in the interview with the AP. “I’m looking forward to giving them all of the evidence.”

Narasimhan said Brooksby received a letter on June 7 from the ITIA notifying him of a potential rule violation.

“We knew all along that we would probably have to go to arbitration to get this dismissed,” Narasimhan said. “Brooksby has not had a soda in five years. ... That’s how clean this guy is.”

https://apnews.com/article/jenson-brook ... d132b71c84

[ponchi101]

Isn't this the second ATP player suspended for missing tests?

[ti-amie]

Isn't this the second ATP player suspended for missing tests?

Yes. Mikael Ymer (the younger) got suspended for 18 months for the same reason.

[ashkor87]

Brooksby story seems very sad. I think officialdom has become too powerful..time to rein it in (yes, that is the spelling)..my own preference would be to dismantle the entire structure of testing and let players do whatever they want...in the end, we can hope the example of Djokovic snd Brooksby will prevail. There are simply too many ways to game the system, any system.