Tennis world is still digesting the fact that Maria Sharapova failed a drug test during the 2016 Australian Open, but have you noticed that we’ve had just few opinions shared about the shocking news by WTA players on Twitter? Whenever there is something groundbreaking happening in tennis or in the world in general, my Twitter feed is filled with players’ reactions, but this time I can notice that so many players have stayed silent. Am I right? Are they afraid of commenting on this delicate topic?
Here are tweets of players that did share their opinion.
Jamie Hampton has been very vocal on the topic, getting engaged in a heated conversation:
I do not want to see @MariaSharapova career end on an honest mistake.
— Jamie Hampton (@Jamie_Hampton) March 8, 2016
Madison Keys showed her support:
@MariaSharapova handled today like a true champion. Very classy of her after an honest mistake — Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) March 8, 2016
As well as Kim Clijsters:
Very disappointed waking up to hear the news about @MariaSharapova …
— Kim Clijsters (@Clijsterskim) March 8, 2016
Melanie South is simply shocked:
Sharapova ?? — Melanie South (@melaniesouth) March 7, 2016
As well as Rennae Stubbs:
Absolutely shocked by that announcement! @WTA @MariaSharapova — rennae stubbs (@rennaestubbs) March 7, 2016
Anne Keothavong stayed reserved:
Sharapova failed a drugs test. Not sure what to make of that.
— Anne Keothavong (@annekeothavong) March 7, 2016
Alla Kudryavtseva just retweeted the statement of WTA’s CEO Steve Simon:
#WTA CEO Steve Simon’s statement in response to @MariaSharapova‘s announcement. pic.twitter.com/DhasT9Mrpo
— WTA (@WTA) March 7, 2016
Marina Navratilova thinks it’s an honest mistake:
Sharapova Announces That She Failed Doping Test, -hope this gets cleared up as it seems 2 me to be an honest mistake https://t.co/nsfGkxDzGp — Martina Navratilova (@Martina) March 7, 2016
While Switzerland’s Conny Perrin believes Maria is a cheat.
Diabetes + Sugarpova = Nonsense. That Shows Are Very Sad Side Of Tennis, 4 All Of Us Who Are Believing In A Fair Game & Dedicate So Much.
— Conny Perrin (@conny_perrin) March 7, 2016
This is pretty much it, aside from Jennifer Capriati’s fair share of drama on Twitter. Where are all the other players to share their thoughts? Here I included many retired players and lower ranked ones. Where are all the top players to say what they think? I’m just curious as to why they are not reacting, since this is a big happening in tennis and when some other big things happened, at least 50 players shared their thoughts on Twitter.
I kind of think there’s no right reaction for them. I mean, at the end of the day, Maria failed a drug test. Majority of the players said many times sport is supposed to be clean. If they will now suddenly support Maria they may look hypocritical, as if there are different standards for global stars like Sharapova and for ‘the rest’. And truth is we now only as much as Maria and her team are telling us, she may have made a huge mistake as well as she may have been simply lying. Sadly, we will never know. (Just to be clear, I’m kind of indifferent on this whole topic, too many unknown factors come into play. But I don’t believe in bending anti-doping rules for anyone as everyone can make up every story)
On the other hand if they critisize her they may hear they are jealous of her, even with doping they wouldn’t even be close to her accomplishments(on and off the court) etc. I think what Caroline said is very true and even that is getting some hate.
Just last month the players said they wanted a clean sport and wanted to hear names of drugs offenders and match fixing. Now we have a name and is crickets.
Maria has no friends on the tour and is known for being cold and unfriendly so why should the other players back her up now?
I am a registered nurse and this medication is not usually given for long periods of time. Let’s call this what it is a bad case of doping. Maria appears to be a very organized person ,in complete control of her surroundings and who and what she allows in her world, there is no way she was not aware that this drug was a performance enhancing agent.
There is no doubt that Maria is a global star, but this whole honest mistake business is hogwash. Lets not bend over backwards to accommodate someone who has been taking performance enhancing drugs. The drug was not on the banned list for the 10 years she was taking it. Fine and dandy, but now that it is banned, she found it difficult to stop. Bad habits are difficult to kick out. She cheated, and should be punished by the system.
Maria didn’t make a mistake. The drug was put on the watch list in 2015. Players, coaches, trainers, etc. were warned in September that it would be added to the banned list in January. Maria was notified in December five separate times by two different tennis associations that it would be banned in January. She MAY have neglected to click on a link in an email, but how do you explain ignorance of the FIVE other warnings? Why didn’t she mention the September warning and the December notifications in her statement to the press? Perhaps the other players are silent because they know there’s a whole lot more to the story, and they’re waiting to see just how much of the crap Sharapova spewed at that carefully scripted news conference she ends up having to pick up off that awful carpet and eat. Or maybe they’re just stunned that someone widely regarded as the face of women’s professional tennis just gave herself one hell of a black eye.
If it had been the Wiliams sisters we would never hear the end to this. and they would be strip of all their trophies and metals they have ever won .
You have not heard anything because the WTA has decided that no one should say anything to the press without following the script. This script was published on Sports Illustrated website yesterday. As a fan of the women’s game I am appalled that they are preventing the players from voicing their own personal views on this issue. This is a very sad time for women’s’ tennis and I frankly can’t get my head behind why everyone seems to think that Sharapova should be above all this.
I agree with Janet up top. There were 5 notifications sent out between September and December. The WTA even provided wallet cards to the players so that they could keep the list handy. How much more did they need to do. I am strongly of the view that she felt that she was above this. There was an item of news this morning that Serena Williams was drug tested 3x in one week. The fact that Sharapova was caught is not a surprise. Someone tipped off the USADA about this drug and they also pointed out that a top tennis player was using this particular drug (perhaps the reason why Serena was tested so much). Turns out it wasn’t Serena who was using it, but Sharapova.
I don’t often agree with Capriati but she is the only player, past or present who has had the guts to come clean. Also Chris Evert made it be known that this was a PED.
It’s too bad that with cases like this we can witness the double (or triple? or more?) standard that applies to so many things… Willingly or not, most people’s judgments are partly influenced by facts that should not even be taken into consideration when forming their opinions. By that, I mean just the fact that we’re talking about Maria Sharapova makes many people (not just her fans) judge the issue differently than let’s say if it was………… Serena Williams.
“This is beautiful, elegant, gracious Maria Sharapova. She did doping??? No way… I mean look at her. She is such a classy lady and always seems so correct. This can’t be true.” – the mind of your average guy.
Imagine the same scenario with Serena Williams. This is what the same average guy would think then: “Yep! Totally knew it! I said it the whole time… I knew she’s full of all kinds of doping. I bet she killed JFK too.”
You know I exaggerated on purpose. Yet, you know how true my point is. Sadly.
(Oh, and sorry if there are any language mistakes. English is my third language…)
Maria Sharapova is an un-apologetic doper who has been doping for 10 (ten) years.
She is arrogant,self-centered, selfish and has an air of superiority. She used
Illegal drugs to gain an advantage over other players. She also screams
Vociferously after every ball she hits and while serving. These actions
Severely handicap her opponents and make it impossible for them to hear
The ball this is done purposely to affect their play.
I believe that the ITF should impose a four (4) year ban on Maria Sharapova
Immediately and remove her from ever playing tennis again. She has
Violated the rules and as a consequence she must suffer & pay for her actions.
To do otherwise, would demonstrate to all of us tennis fans who love and
Respect tennis that Maria Sharapova is above the rules and therefore doesn’t
Have to abide by your rules because she is priviledged…she also is
Allowed to dope and take banned substances whenever and wherever
And as long as she chooses.
If Maria Sharapova is not severely punished, many, many tennis fans
Including me will boycott her sponsors’ products and stop our support
Immediately.
Can you imagine if this was Serena?. Everyone would ask that she
Is immediately removed from the game of tennis and her many
Trophies be taken away!!!.
I am asking that Maria Sharapova be punished by the letter of the ITF law
and rules and that all of her trophies are stripped from her ASAP!.
That would be justice.!!!.
maria claims to have used the drug for flu like symptoms and diabetes that runs in her family and also for irregular EKGs first of all one of her biggest money makers is her candies “Sugarpova”, they are not diabetic candies but full of sugar that can actually lead to diabetes. So for someone who is concerned about diabetes why would she be in business that may actually lead to a health problem that she claims to be a major problem in her family ? She was caught ,so was scrambling with words and what to say, wonder why she should be having flu like symptoms for ten years. Irregular EKGs,hmmm! remember Mardy Fish, had to retire due to a heart condition that we all knew, never heard that sharapova had any issues with her heart, I can imagine if this were Serena, all hell would have broken loose. You wonder why she never had friends on the tour, because she did not want people to know her secret. You’ve been caught ” Surgardoper”. Kudos to Nike,Porsche
and Tag heuer. Shame on you racket “HEAD”.
Maria Sharapova should be punish, there is no doubt about it. The ITF and all other
govern bodies of The Tennis Association should strip her of all titles won in the ten
(10) years she admitted to doping. Lets face it, she knew what she was doing, and
did not care!!!! Because she felt that she could and did get away with it for Ten (10) years. She made the Tennis World and Fans look like a “DONKEY” SHE DOPE ALL THE
WAY TO THE “BANK” AND LAUGHING ALL THE WAY, AS SHE DEPOSIT ALL OF HER
MILLIONS. Why are they trying to keep the players from voicing their opinion.
Maria Sharapova must be punish and not a slap on the wrist.
You only have to look at the vile tweets Kristina Mladenovic has received this weekend, after expressing her opinion, to see why most other players aren’t commenting.
Gagging rules. Why is the WTA not allowing players freedom of speech. Silencing players is not going to solve the problems tennis has.
https://twitter.com/Shara_Paolo/status/709731559696424960/photo/1
http://www.si.com/tennis/2016/03/09/wta-prepares-players-indian-wells-maria-sharapova-doping
nike has decided to keep her and not lether go…weird how when lance armstrong cheated he lost everything ..
but with this chick she is given a free pass ..so sad everyone should boycott nike and what they stand for .
amazing folks are still praising her for here honesty courage ..please stfu …she is no role model but a cheater ..
one word …
Serena ..
they would have taken all 21 grand slam titles from her
Sean John, agreed; you are very wise. In addition, she’s not even American and yet she’s favored by the Americans. What Americans and many others wished for Serena, happened to Maria. Very interesting, to say the least. Two thumbs up to Jade, Sabey Stephanie, Charles, Janet, Barbara, St. Catherine, Raj, Jack and Aquarius also! You are all too wise to be spot-on dumb. Thank you for speaking truth and seeing clean through this deceiving liar, Maria Sharapova. He two-year ban is well deserved, although many online are saying she should have been given a 4-yr. ban and had titles stripped for the 10 yrs. she willingly took the drug for a condition she doesn’t even have. She needs to quietly go back to her beloved Russia and retire from the sport.
Sharapova was created by the likes of Mary carillo, Mary Fernadez, Bodo, the Mcenroe brothers, the WTA and Chris Evert not to mention the tennis pundets. I remember when Sharapova was shocked when she began to understand that her whiteness gave her special privelege around the world; Japan, Korea, India and China seem to be ashame of their ethnicity and worship white skin!!!
Up till now I cannot get over her slap on the wrist punishment. If this was Serena, the sentence would have been different. She would have been stripped of all her titles. Anyhow karma has a way of dealing with things. Since she returned and all that was done to give her a hero’s welcome; she has not been able to get to the top. Neither has she been able to win any title except one with very low ranked players. She will need to find another doctor with a wonder drug that science will need 10 years to catch up with. After all she can afford the money to find one. However she dears not. Fear would not let her!!! I hope one day she can look in the mirror and tell the world the truth. Sad that she can’t do that. Only the truth can set us free.