End of the WTA Year: reflections and drug testing

The US Open Women’s Final cast an uncomfortable shadow across not only the last Grand Slam of the year but also the rest of the year. It was great that Serena Williams received Comeback Player of the Year Award which she richly deserved for her incredible rise up the rankings and on reaching the finals in two Grand Slams back to back. This still does not compensate for the dreadful treatment she received at the hands of Ramos who was not the only out of control umpire during the US Open. Umpires are there to ensure that the match goes smoothly for the players and that all their needs are met. It’s their responsibility to make sure the players know what’s going on and what the score is. The spectators also expect to be told the score and if anything out of the ordinary is happening eg a trainer is being called on court and for whom. A match is stressful for the players so the umpire should create a pleasant environment for both players and spectators. They are not some authoritarian figure who lords over the players as though they are inferior and need to be kept under control like children. Indeed, the idea of superior/ inferior is a repugnant notion. Children aren’t inferior to their teachers, they deserve the same respect as fellow human beings. And part of being a human being is being able to be empathic and apologise when needed without fearing a loss of status or control. So I think it was unfortunate that Ramos didn’t a) apologise to Serena for falsely accusing her of cheating with her coach, b) take on board what she had said about not using or receiving coaching and changed it to a soft warning, c) take the time to fully explain the situation eg why he did it, that her coach had gestured, what she could do to avoid further warnings/penalties and state explicitly which type of first warning she had received so she is not confused over how further warnings would proceed from there. This would have deescalated the dispute immediately and thereby made a huge difference not only to the match but also post-match, including the undeserved and disproportionate fines she received, given that male players at the previous Grand Slam, Wimbledon, received far lower fines for significantly worse behaviour. The whole episode and debate over the US Open Women’s Final that followed left a bad taste in the mouth!

Has it been an unpredictable year in which every Grand Slam saw a different winner? Not really. Surely this was to be expected. Serena has had to contend with serious additional health issues as a result of a difficult birth. Kvitova is still coming back from her very serious injury caused by an attacker in her home. Kuznetsova is finding her way back from surgery. Sharapova is doing well but also battling her way back after a drugs ban. Halep has been beset by injuries all year. Dame Wozniacki won the Australian Open only to be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis later in the year, just before the US Open. Radwanska hasn’t played much this season and it’s unlikely she’ll return next season due to an ongoing foot injury. Safarova became ill early in the year and has struggled to fully recover. The list goes on. So it’s no surprise that there are a variety of winners on the tour. Is it a sign of a changing of the guard? Not necessarily. Pliskova, although injured at the moment, has added two female coaches to her team. I hope more women tennis players will do the same. So, it largely depends on the general health of a player and the extent of their injuries. Hopefully, they will rest up not overdo practising during their off-season. Rest and sleep can be more important than spending too much time on court or in the gym.

I am aware that there are people who were very negative about Sharapova when it was discovered she took a banned substance, seeing her as a cheat for taking drugs. I personally believed her when she said she wasn’t aware that the drug she had been taking for many years and which she needed had suddenly been banned. Indeed, nothing should stop her from continuing to take it because her doctor claims it is medically necessary, so she just has to notify the tour. Should she have known? Yes, I suppose one could argue that she should have checked it herself but Sharapova has someone in her team who does all that sort of work for her and no surprise. When I started on the tour I was totally baffled by the sheer complexity of understanding what you could/could not take. I think the public think it’s a simple list of hard drugs that enhance your performance – done. No! I couldn’t even take vitamins because they could contain ingredients which might not appear on the label and/or might chemically react in an unanticipated way in my body. Caffeine was another no-no for me (currently, players can eg drink coffee with caffeine in it but caffeine intake in 2018 was nevertheless monitored in-competition and will continue to be so in 2019). The anti-doping list (WADA prohibited list) changes every year and some things that were banned suddenly aren’t and others that were fine suddenly aren’t fine to take anymore. It is also hugely complex because the list uses technical names for chemicals and substances. It took me ages to study it but it needs a pharmacist to understand it because, frankly, it’s un-understandable by any lay person not versed in pharmacology and related areas. So before judging an athlete for taking drugs it’s useful to be aware that it’s easy for them to make a mistake and take something unknowingly. After reading ITF and WTA articles and recommendations, I became so uber-careful that I cut out many basic nutritional food and drink eg fruit juices which had added vitamins, some health and sports bars and other products freely available in high street health food stores. I didn’t take vitamin/mineral supplements and didn’t so much as take a disprin. I discovered you can’t assume a sports bar or drink is fine to consume because it is advertised as a product approved and used by athletes in other sports eg footballers because their drugs list can vary from the ITF’s. In fact, I still stick to this way of life. It became a habit. I’m not sure it was helpful because I think I lacked energy as a result! Not helpful during matches! Vitamins are very important for athletes. They can’t absorb enough vitamins/minerals from their food intake because they are leading a very physically strenuous life. I think today the tour has approved a certain product which enables players to take vitamin supplements.  

Of course, none of us want athletes to take drugs and have an unfair advantage over others. I certainly was and am vehemently opposed to drug taking (both in sports and recreational use by non-athletes) so drugs testing in sport is important but I also know how complex the whole issue is and how easily an athlete can get things wrong. Your mind is on your sport. Understanding difficult technical names for drugs is very stressful and distracting. You don’t expect simple substances sold in high streets for everyone to take to be classified as a banned substance, some of which may have adverse health effects eg heart and brain problems. Surely there should be a simpler way of making the banned drugs more easily understood! Also, it would help if players were given courses on reading and understanding the whole area of drugs and sport and how to ensure they don’t inadvertently ingest banned substances.  As to why some players are more drugs tested than others baffles me. Why, for instance, is Serena the most frequently drugs tested USA tennis player by USADA? She has so many health issues already why cause her more stress. Besides, it would be feasible that something could chemically react in her body and show up positive for a banned substance she never took! After all she has to take blood thinning drugs to control blood clots to which she is prone. Short of being in the medical profession how can anyone possibly know how their body will react to certain chemicals in food? There is also the problem of cross-contamination when conducting a test. A high profile case in the UK discovered that some bus drivers were testing positive for cocaine despite never having taken it because they had handled money which had traces of it and they hadn’t washed their hands before touching the testing kit¹.

Wishing all tennis players a restful, fun off-season. Hope any player with injuries/health problems gets better. Good luck next year. I’m looking forward to loads of great tennis!

¹Moris, S. and agency 19 Mar 2015 ‘Contaminated banknotes caused bus driver to test positive for cocaine’ available at:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/19/contaminated-banknotes-caused-bus-driver-test-positive-cocaine