-- Edited by sliced backhand on Thursday 18th of May 2023 10:25:59 PM
I looked at this page, and all the way down, because I was genuinely interested
But I couldn't see any evidence at all
A lot of people ranting about it as a given fact
But nothing at all of any substance - maybe I missed it?
The 'worst accusation' seemed to be a photo of more muscly arms against skinnier arms
Really?
Thats what I thought. Theres always been gossip around Nadal , as there is around Djokovic, I even saw some stuff when Andy bulked up 15 or so years ago, and Serena and Henin always had lots of fingers pointed.
but it was all a) fingers pointed and circumstantial b) usually assertions made by the fans of the players rival
Ill keep an open mind but Ive never seen evidence of doping other than this sort of vitriol, and Id like to think the powers that be hold the sport above any doper and would not just quietly let them get away with it.
-- Edited by sliced backhand on Thursday 18th of May 2023 10:25:59 PM
I looked at this page, and all the way down, because I was genuinely interested
But I couldn't see any evidence at all
A lot of people ranting about it as a given fact
But nothing at all of any substance - maybe I missed it?
The 'worst accusation' seemed to be a photo of more muscly arms against skinnier arms
Really?
Thats what I thought. Theres always been gossip around Nadal , as there is around Djokovic, I even saw some stuff when Andy bulked up 15 or so years ago, and Serena and Henin always had lots of fingers pointed.
but it was all a) fingers pointed and circumstantial b) usually assertions made by the fans of the players rival
Ill keep an open mind but Ive never seen evidence of doping other than this sort of vitriol, and Id like to think the powers that be hold the sport above any doper and would not just quietly let them get away with it.
mmm. The Mail. There are clearly faults in the testing system (number, regularity, focus) and I tend to admit it is highly unlikely that none of our top players of the past few years or now are taking enhancers.
But this doesnt mean it is Rafa or Djoko or Andy or Serena or anyone currently playing (you see folks throwing out Alcaraz, Sabalenka gets mentioned).
Enough players get caught to know that it happens. But lets just think - none of the top players we have in our game are in a state federation sponsored world; they are all independent contractors. So they would need to rather impressively put a team around them to organise a doping regime - it isnt like cycling, say, where a leading team can manage and organise a process. Rafa or Novak have folks around them but it isnt a massive team with a doping regime going on. And it just takes one person in that team (like a Becker, say) to be indiscreet or peeved at how they have been treated, to start telling stories to the press and evidence wouldnt be hard to find/provide.
Like I say, I reckon somewhere it goes on, but there is no evidence in any of this that isnt purely anecdotal or gossip.
-- Edited by sliced backhand on Thursday 18th of May 2023 10:25:59 PM
I looked at this page, and all the way down, because I was genuinely interested
But I couldn't see any evidence at all
A lot of people ranting about it as a given fact
But nothing at all of any substance - maybe I missed it?
The 'worst accusation' seemed to be a photo of more muscly arms against skinnier arms
Really?
Thats what I thought. Theres always been gossip around Nadal , as there is around Djokovic, I even saw some stuff when Andy bulked up 15 or so years ago, and Serena and Henin always had lots of fingers pointed.
but it was all a) fingers pointed and circumstantial b) usually assertions made by the fans of the players rival
Ill keep an open mind but Ive never seen evidence of doping other than this sort of vitriol, and Id like to think the powers that be hold the sport above any doper and would not just quietly let them get away with it.
I think that's a decent article and, actually, I think the tennis reporting in the Daily Mail is good quality.
But how on earth can you use that article to justify accusations against Nadal?
The only time it mentions Nadal is:
In 2021, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were tested nine, 12 and 13 times out of competition respectively, according to ITF statistics.
So why don't you think Federer is doping? Or Djoko? Or Tsitsipas or someone else?
The simple fact that the ITF may have a sloppy testing regime, and nothing more, cannot justify an accusation against one top-100 player and not the other 99
The Mail link was a response to Jon believing that the ITF is genuinely searching for cheats. IMHO there are many in the world game but that Nadal is the most obvious.
The Mail link was a response to Jon believing that the ITF is genuinely searching for cheats. IMHO there are many in the world game but that Nadal is the most obvious.
Yes, I liked the Daily Mail article, as said. And I'm quite willing to believe the ITF are being slow/difficult and there might be more doping that we'd like to think (although it'll obviously be less in multi-skill sports like football and tennis than more one-dimensional sports like cycling and weightlifting)
BUT you still have put forward absolutely nothing to show that 'Nadal is the most obvious'