There have been no shortage of doping cases in professional tennis over the years—Maria Sharapova’s case, which we’ll learn a lot more about on Tuesday, comes to mind—but, as compared to other sporting organizations, the ATP and WTA tours have relatively clean images when it comes to performance-enhancing drug usage among players.
On Monday, ESPN.com released a report indicating that the International Tennis Federation, the sport’s governing body, has not done enough to curb doping in tennis.
“Outside the Lines has found that [the] clean reputation is largely due to lax anti-doping efforts by the sport,” ESPN senior writer Mike Fish wrote on Monday.
OTL reported that the ITF has done an exceptionally poor job of catching cheaters. ESPN reported that, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2014 Anti-Doping Rule Violations Report, the ITF caught only one in 985 players tested.
To put that in perspective, ESPN reported that the International Swimming Federation caught 1 in 520, the International Cycling Union caught 1 in 296 and the IAAF busted 1 in 274 track and field competitors.
A confidential survey conducted by ESPN this year was alarming. Of 31 professional tennis players who participated, 65 percent said that the ITF doesn’t drug test enough, and, perhaps even more disturbing, said that they know a fellow player who has used PEDs.
Stuart Miller, the executive director of the ITF's science and technical department, told Outside the Lines that 1,032 players were tested last year, and he defended his organization’s body of work and methods.
"If you had endless money, you would test every athlete for every substance on every day of the year,” Miller told Outside the Lines, and added that “if there is use that we haven't detected, yeah, of course I am frustrated.”
Many players, including Roger Federer and Andy Murray, have called for stricter testing in tennis. Rafael Nadal, who has been accused of doping throughout his career, went so far as to sue a former French minster who claimed that he used illegal substances to enhance his performance.
Sharapova, who tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in January, was banned for two years in June. She’s appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have that suspension reduced, and on Tuesday the verdict will be announced.
Whether the ban is overturned, modified or upheld, questions about the ITF’s competence will continue to linger, and the integrity of the sport will continue to be under suspicion—fairly or not.