Game is reeling after Cilic is hit by doping claim
TENNIS has been l eft f acing more awkward questions about doping after widespread reports that world No 15 Marin Cilic tested positive at the Munich Open three months ago.
According to the media in his native Croatia, Cilic was informed of the test results during Wimbledon, which may be connected to him unexpectedly pulling out of his second- round match against Kenny de Schepper.
This development comes within days of f ormer world No 12 Viktor Troicki of Serbia receiving an 18-month ban for refusing to take a blood test at the Monte Carlo Open this summer in the week prior to the German event.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for the International Tennis Federation, which administers an antidoping programme that is in the process of being beefed up, stuck to its policy of refusing to comment on individual cases.
A ban for Cilic could have ramifications for British tennis. In September, Britain are due to meet Croatia at the seaside resort of Umag for a place in next year’s elite 16-team World Group of the Davis Cup; Cilic’s absence would dramatically weaken their team.
He missed last week’s regular ATP event at the same venue, which appears to have led to the media reports in Croatia, with daily Slobodna Dalmacija claiming he failed the test.
Another daily, Jutarnji List, suggested that the positive result may be related to an ‘incautious use of glucose’. His manager, Vincent Stavaux, was quoted as saying: ‘There are no comments until we are able to comment.’
In tennis, there is roughly a three-month time lag between a positive test being discovered and a formal announcement after a tribunal hearing — but only if the player is found guilty. That is what happened last week to world No 53 Troicki.
Given that the Munich tournament took place the week after Monte Carlo, between April 29 and May 5, any formal findings in the case of Cilic could be revealed in the next few weeks. The ITF policy is not to announce provisional suspensions.
Cilic would be the sport’s highest-profile case since Frenchman Richard Gasquet was handed a 12-month ban in 2009 after traces of cocaine were found in his system. He was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which accepted he accidentally ingested the substance through kissing a woman in a Miami nightclub.
The 24-year-old Croat has been ranked as high as No 9 in the world and reached the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open, where he lost to Andy Murray. He won the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club last year and reached the final this summer, again losing to Murray. In Munich, he was beaten easily in his first match by compatriot Ivan Dodig. Later in May he split from his long-time coach, Australian veteran Bob Brett.
At Wimbledon, he won his firstround match against Cyprus’s Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, but t hen withdrew on t he morning of his match on the first Wednesday against the muchlower-ranked De Schepper, citing a continuing left-knee problem. He has not played since. Troicki is the sixth and most high-profile player of either sex to have been banned for doping this year, supporting claims from the likes of Murray and Roger Federer that tennis needs to step up its efforts to keep the sport as clean as possible.
Troicki, protesting his innocence, aims to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.