Talk About Tennis 2.0

Everyone here knows how I feel about the Sharapova case but whoever tweeted this is, in my opinion, making a valid point. Mikael Ymer was suspended for three years for missing the doping control people but never tested positive for anything. Failing two separate tests and having the argument made for you that the difference was having the ability to hire the best lawyers is kind of weak sauce. (I just read an entire post of Reddit making that point).



Below is the post where the argument is made that his case moved so rapidly because he hired the best lawyers.

To claim that Sharapova did not have the establishment behind her is silly. She was a WTA darling, had Nike in her corner, and had all the star power needed.
Sinner seems to be guilty, at the moment. The reactions have been diametrically opposite. But don't try to make it as is Sharapova was treated unfairly. Jannick is being treated unfairly; to all the other players that have been suspended.
Let's not forget Troicki.

I usually stay out of these discussions entirely because it is not my expertise in any way, shape or form, but is the argument that Sinner, unlike Halep, tested positive for an infinitesimal amount of whatever it was that was found irrelevant? Could he have had more in his system earlier and be lying to the nth degree, or is it clear he never could have had enough to make a difference?

In general, the moral police that descend on any player in these circumstances exhausts me. Sometimes it is warranted and sometimes it is not. All I am interested in is the seriousness of the offense, not whether a different standard was applied to different players based on their status or popularity. Don't care. Just want to know the seriousness of each individual infraction.

But Sharapova did have that press conference and was suspended for a short time. Maybe because her use of meldonium had been proven to have taken place for years, something she admitted, they had to do something. They just wanted her to come out of the situation with a mostly clean image and they got what they wanted.

The Halep situation is also different because of the levels of roxa found in her samples. Her ban was reduced but she has so far been unable to credibly perform on court. Blake gave her a WC into Miami shortly after her suspension was reduced and her performance was lacking.

This situation is different because he failed tests in back to back tournaments. The fact that he failed was kept from the public while a scenario was put together that had his trainer say he cut his finger on March 3 that ended up causing the positives at both IW and Miami. That the trainer Naldi had cut his finger while reaching into his bag was confirmed by eye witnesses who said they remembered the incident that had occurred five months earlier during testimony in front of the ITIA. That Sinner was not immediately suspended after IW is what's making some players lose it and many fans suspicious. It doesn't help that Naldi was involved in prior incidents involving the same steroid cream.

This is ugly no matter how we look at it. I think we can all agree it's bad for tennis and bad for the upcoming US Open where many expected him to win the second hard court Slam of the year.

jazzyg wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2024 10:38 pm I usually stay out of these discussions entirely because it is not my expertise in any way, shspe or form, but is the argument that Sinner, unlike Halep, tested positive for an infinitesimal amount of whatever it was that was found irrelevant? Could he have had more in his system earlier and be lying to the nth degree, or is it clear he never could have had enough to make a difference?

In general, the moral police that descend on any player in these circumstances exhausts me. Sometimes it is warranted and sometimes it is not. All I am interested in is the seriousness of the offense, not whether a different standard was applied to different players based on their status or popularity. Don't care. Just want to know the seriousness of each individual infraction.

This particular steroid is excreted out of the body in about 8 hours. That there was such a small amount implies to people familiar with how this steroid acts in the body that there could've been a higher amount found if the test had been administered earlier. It's the same with roxa, the PED Halep was found guilty of using.

The article posted above explains what this steroid does, that Naldi, Sinner's physio, has been involved in prior incidents with it, and how this steroid is to Italy what meldonium is/was to Eastern Europe. That public reaction from players has been mostly negative or silence says a lot but that is just my opinion.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2024 10:12 pm To claim that Sharapova did not have the establishment behind her is silly. She was a WTA darling, had Nike in her corner, and had all the star power needed.
Sinner seems to be guilty, at the moment. The reactions have been diametrically opposite. But don't try to make it as is Sharapova was treated unfairly. Jannick is being treated unfairly; to all the other players that have been suspended.
Let's not forget Troicki.

I always forget about Troicki. Thanks for the heads up.

The team of good lawyers is useful in a sense that they can quickly and efficiently use the existing regulations. In case of Sinner - reject the provisional suspension and appeal. But no lawyers can do anything outside these regulations. The problem is not that there was something wrong done in handling the Sinner case. IMV the problem is that something was NOT DONE RIGHT in all those other cases.

The idea that there was an earnest @usopen
request to restrict questions to tennis? That was the sport at its jay-vee best...Full credit to Sinner for recognizing the absurdity of the request- and the seriousness of the situation - fielding all questions, and doing so with poise...

Roddick came squarely on the side of Jannik.

The Tennis Letter
@TheTennisLetter
Novak Djokovic was asked about Jannik Sinner’s case, ‘I can understand the sentiments of a lot of players who are questioning whether they are treated the same’

“As far as Jannik's case, you know, as I said, these kind of instances are the very reason that why we founded PTPA that is always advocating for fair protocols, clear protocols for standardized approaches to these kind of cases.
I understand the frustration of the players is there because of lack of consistency. As I understood, his case was cleared the moment basically it was announced. But, you know, I think five or six months passed since the news was brought to him and his team.
So, yeah, there is a lot of issues in the system. We see lack of standardized and clear protocols. I can understand
the sentiments of a lot of players that are questioning whether they are treated the same.
Hopefully the governing bodies of our sport will be able to learn from this case and have a better approach for the future. I think collectively there has to be a change, and I think that's obvious.
Many players -- without naming any of them -- I'm sure you know already who these players are, have had similar or same, pretty much the same cases, where they haven't had the same outcome, and now the question is whether it is a case of the funds, whether a player can afford to pay a significant amount of money for a law firm that would then more efficiently represent his or her case.
I don't know. Is that a case or not? That's something really I feel like we have to collectively investigate more, to look into the system and understand how these cases don't happen, meaning not the case itself, but how we can standardize everything so that every player, regardless of his ranking or status or profile, is able to get the same kind of treatment.
So, yeah, I would say that's probably the overall, I guess, my opinion and observation of this entire case of what we have been reading and observing and talking about the last few days.”

(via US Open Press)

Serious question. Ymer is still serving his suspension? If so, I gather that it should be lifted immediately, until protocols are indeed reviewed.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2024 4:41 pm Serious question. Ymer is still serving his suspension? If so, I gather that it should be lifted immediately, until protocols are indeed reviewed.

Ymer retired.