Hawkwood said:
I'm surprised cyclists haven't used this loophole, I was unintentionally doped by my trainer who was using `contaminated supplements'.
the trainers in question were those employed by the ATP who work at the tournaments and tend to all of the players for on court injuries; not private, personal trainers employed by particular players--it would have been grossly unfair to penalize a player for anything given to him by an ATP employee.
rules about medication in tennis are different than in cycling--tennis players are allowed to take pain killers for instance. the ATP trainers will even provide them on court during a match if they are needed.
hitch said:
But at the lower challenger levels there have been players caught. these people are far less likely to afford it than mahut or isner.
there have been players caught in the top 20 too. i never said doping didn't happen, but that it was unlikely that players outside the top 10 were on a doping program--there is a difference between doping when you get the chance and being on a full-fledged doping program.
isner and mahut may dope, but i would find it less likely of them than of nadal or federer, or any of the rest of the top ten, for the reasons i said.
if you have ever met any of the players in person, then you know they are very skinny, slightly built guys--even nadal, who looks huge on tv next to everyone else, is really a pretty slight guy in real life--if you saw him walking down the street, you wouldn't think "steriods."
i went out to eat with marat safin a few years ago and i couldn't believe how dainty his wrists were--almost feminine. also, as group, players tend not to show the side effects of steriod abuse--they don't have acne and most are pretty low key guys emotonally for the most part.
longterm steriod abuse would probably be detrimental to their games because of the effect it has on one's temper--just like in golf, 90% of a tennis match is won by controlling one's emotions. marat was probably as gifted a player as federer, but his inability to keep his emotions in check during matches hurt his career, and kept him from being a great player.
And doping in tennis wouldnt just be epo, but also muscle building steroids from a young age, which as i mentioned above could possibly have been used by nadal. Also peds will strenghten the serve (a lot) and the best cure for pressure in a tennis match is to have a strong first serve which gets you free points.
i never said it would be just epo.
powerful serves are not a function of strength but of height and motion and torque--the power comes all from the legs, not from the shoulder. the ability to ace is a function of placement more than power (federer rarely serves over 115, but is always on the leader board aces-wise because of the accuracy of his serve), most players can hit a 140 hour serve if the want to, but they can't control the placement. steriods can't help with that. look at roddick's service motion--he jumps into the serve and is generating the power from that jump. isner's power, however, is more a function of the torque he gets from his height, like ivo karlovich.
if doping helps, it helps on the return game and the ability to not get tired. it doesn't help on the serve--as you saw with isner and mahut, when your serve is grooving you can hit aces at will for hours--i used to watch pimpim johanson practice his serve--one perfect serve after the other for hours.
And while in tennis skill and precision are obviously more important, people like nadal and federer plan on going deep into the second week of grand slams. When you play a one off match, or even 2 matches in a few days, it probably wouldnt tire them out. But but a best of 5 set match every 2 days for 2 weeks, now endurance really does become a factor, and drugs which help with endurance, become all the more valueable
i said i believed that players in the top ten probably dope. federer and nadal are in the top ten. but whatever benefit nadal gets from doping, if he does dope, it doesn't transfer to the hard court and indoor court seasons--those are the two fastest courts these days and he never has any results on them. that is why i am not convinced of the absolute advantage doping gives one in tennis.
After the 5 hour AO semi against Verdasco, people who saw Nadal said he couldnt walk the next day yet alone play federer in the final. Yet the next day he was magically back to full fitness, with the final turning out to be ANOTHER marathon match, and Nadals power game winning him the 5th set and the championship, with no signs of being tired.
The in awe commentators simply dismissed this as nadal training harder than everyone else. Now where have i heard dopers use this line before?
i doubt anyone in tennis would be surprised to find out that nadal dopes, except for the 15 year-old nadaltards with a hard on for him. i think people would be disappointed, but not surprised. many would also be pretty angry, because they would feel he had denied federer and tennis in general several career grand slams. the reaction would be pretty harsh--tennis fans are pretty quick to boo and denounce unsporting behavior.
had federer ever pulled a stunt like armstrong did with simeoni, he'd be booed off the court. and probably booed every time he walked onto a court after that (wimbeldon still hasn't forgiven johnny mac after all--he is still the only wimbeldon champ denied a membership in the club for unsporting behavior). players even get fined for cussing on court still.
the odds that isner and mahut are dirty are probably long. the odds that nadal is dirty are way too short to even make the bet worthwhile. the odds that federer is dirty, would probably be even money.
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