Sharapova could face Wimbledon expulsion
Maria Sharapova has avoided the threat of immediate expulsion from the All England Club following her two-year ban for doping offences.
|||Maria Sharapova has avoided the threat of immediate expulsion from the All England Club following her two-year ban for doping offences.
However, she is expected to have her status discussed following this year’s tournament, having been automatically made an honorary member after her singles win in 2004.
There was no official comment from the All England Club yesterday but a highly placed source indicated that the matter will be debated only once The Championships are out of the way.
Some members are sure to be unhappy about having a convicted doper in their ranks, although at SW19 they may wish to see the outcome of her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
It will be interesting to see how she is dealt with by the world’s most prestigious club, especially as Wimbledon has publicly put itself on high alert over doping and corruption matters this year. In April they announced that they were putting unspecified resources into extra testing before and during this year’s event.
It is likely that if there was any move against Sharapova, it would have to be made by the club’s main committee of management.
Another celebrated All England member, Roger Federer, called for ‘zero tolerance’ over doping after playing his first match since missing the French Open with a stiff back.
A rarity among top players, as he is in action this week — at the grass-court Stuttgart Open — Federer said of the Sharapova ruling: ‘For me, zero tolerance is the best solution. You have to know what goes into your body and the consequences. We have to have a deterrent.’
Of his own experiences of being tested, relative to Sharapova’s apparent disdain for attending to the documents involved, he said: ‘I’m always alone to do the test so I do everything by myself. I fill all the forms and sign it, it is simple.’
Federer beat outstanding American teenage prospect Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 yesterday in a match delayed overnight due to rain.
Caroline Wozniacki told the BBC after losing at the Nottingham Open: ‘The International Tennis Federation is trying to insure nobody goes the route of taking any performance-enhancing drugs. It’s unfortunate for anyone who did that unintentionally. We just really have to take good care of what we take.’
While it is unlikely that many players will queue up to defend an opponent concluded to have been seeking an edge by using meldonium, two more sponsors have declared support for Sharapova. Racket supplier Head, also used by Andy Murray, continued their backing while bottled water company Evian also stood by her on the basis that the offences were unintentional.
Murray, rested after the French Open, is expected to return to practice today at Queen’s Club ahead of the Aegon Championships. He criticised his racket supplier’s response in March after the initial revelation.
Sharapova and her legal team are preparing to lodge their appeal to CAS and one expert has estimated a ruling may be reached by the end of August. – Daily Mail