Serena claims ‘discrimination’ over drug tests by US authorities

American alleges she has been tested on more occasions than other tennis players

PARIS: Serena Williams claims she is the victim of “discrimination” by US doping chiefs who are testing her more than other players. At Wimbledon Williams slammed “shocking” treatment over excessive targeting from testers in the run-up to the second Grand Slam of the season.

And in a tweet on Wednesday the 23-time Grand slam winner reignited the discussion.

“..... and it’s that time of the day to get “randomly” drug tested and only test Serena,” she posted on her official Twitter page. “Out of all the players it’s been proven I’m the one getting tested the most.

Discrimination? I think so. At least I’ll be keeping the sport clean #Staypositive,” she wrote.

The 36-year-old battled back from life-saving surgery after giving birth to get within touching distance of an eighth Wimbledon title.

However, the American suffered a straight sets defeat by Angelique Kerber in the women’s final on July 14.

She had arrived at the tournament on the back of a report revealing her anger about an unannounced test in June where the tester refused to leave her Florida house.

Williams said at the time she had been tested five times on June, compared to one or none from some of her compatriots.

Athletes returning from a long absence are often the subject of repeated drug tests, as they are seen as part of a higherrisk category than athletes in the flow of regular competition.

GIVEN WILD CARD FOR ROGERS CUP

Former world number one Williams has been given a wild card to compete in next month’s Rogers Cup in Montreal, tournament organisers said on Tuesday.

The three-times champion, who gave birth last September and lost in the Wimbledon final 10 days ago, has not competed in Montreal since her run to the semi-finals in 2014 and last career, Serena has never tested positive for any illegal substance despite being tested more number of times than other tennis players — both male and female, her staff has claimed in a statement. Besides being tested by country-specific anti-doping organisations, USADA in case of Americans, professional tennis players have to also undergo tests by WADA and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Serena’s medical records were released by Russian hackers in 2016 along with some other American sportspersons including her sister Venus and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. The records had revealed use of a banned substance for which Serena had a therapeutic use exemption (TUE). played the Rogers Cup in Toronto the following year.

“After announcing our player list a few weeks ago, we were only missing Serena to complete our dream tournament,” Rogers Cup tournament director Eugene Lapierre said in a statement on Tuesday. “I guess they decided it was a missed test, which really doesn’t make sense. Anyone would logically think that I would have to be home 24 hours a day, or I get a missed test.” “You only get three missed tests. For me (being listed as having missed a test) is a little frustrating. How can I have a missed test when it’s nowhere near the time I should be there?"

“Serena has impressed everyone with the speed at which she was able to return to a high level of play. She has always been a fighter and she is proving it once again.”

Williams returned to competition at Indian Wells in March, where she lost in the third round, but has since looked close to her best and is ranked 27th in the world. The wild card given to Williams, who won the tournament in 2001, 2011 and 2013, is reserved for players who meet specific requirements, including previously having been ranked number one in the world.

She will also compete in next week’s new Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, California. Williams is returning to the Bay Area for what is the former Stanford WTA stop that moved to San Jose State University for the first time. The event runs from July 30 to August 5.