“They’re going to give me a warning” When Rafael Nadal accused ITF of harassing him with constant doping tests
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Rafael Nadal
Former World No. 1 and 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal is one of the most glorious and successful tennis players. He remains the most successful Grand Slam men’s champion. His record on Clay has deservingly won him the title of ‘King of Clay’ as he has won 14 French Open titles from 18 appearances at the Grand Slam and has suffered only 3 defeats at the historic venue.
Nadal’s rise in tennis was exponential and with unmatchable dominance on clay courts, he was quickly rising on the Tour with wins on hardcourts as well. With consistent results and turning up on the winning side of long battles, the Spaniard has been subject to many false accusations of doping and taking performance enhancers, all of which have never been proved true. Even at the 2022 French Open, he was accused of doping which required the WADA chief to clear the air around and once again declare Rafa innocent of the accusations.
Rafael Nadal had stood up for suspended colleague Richard Gasquet
In 2009, former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet had been suspended from tennis when his drug-test results showed the presence of cocaine. The Frenchman had revealed that during a party in a nightclub, he had french-kissed a dancer and it could have led to the results which were later confirmed as the amount was less than a grain of salt. Nevertheless, he had to miss 2-months of action including the 2009 French Open and the 2009 Wimbledon due to the ban which was cleared in July.
Rafa had spoken in defence of Gasquet and accused ITF of harassing and unnecessarily pressurising the players with their rules of testing which then required the players to keep their national anti-doping authorities aware of their whereabouts between 6 AM to 11 PM each day for three months, which had irked the players, particularly Nadal who was blunt and non-apologetic towards the ITF for their rule.
“I support him. I’m certain that he’s not taking anything. He’s a good friend of mine and I discussed this with him last week and he’s most certainly not taking cocaine. You know what the world is like today. You go to a party… if you kiss a girl who’s taken cocaine, anything can happen. This can destroy your career and this is most unfair.
“The International Tennis Federation (ITF) should take measures. I don’t have the impression that it’s good to put so much pressure on us. They harass us. If I lose tomorrow, I’ll go back to Mallorca and who will know where I am if I have no access to the internet? Now, if they knock at my door in Mallorca, they’re going to give me a warning. It’s happened to Carlos (Moya) before. They sent him a warning and this is most unfair,” said Nadal speaking to reporters at the 2009 French Open before losing his first-ever match in Roland Garros.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)