Shame on her
Brennan: Banned for two years, Sharapova now can be considered world-class cheater,
Can Maria Sharapova come back from this? Tennis insiders are unsure.
Sharapova was issued a twoyear ban by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday for using the banned drug meldonium. The suspension is backdated to January, meaning Sharapova, who says she will appeal, is out until January 2018.
She’ll be nearing her 31st birthday by then, and she’s a player who has dealt with myriad injuries in her career.
Chris Evert, the former world No. 1 and now an ESPN commentator, thinks this is the end for Sharapova.
“I don’t think she can do a two-year ban. I don’t think she can come back,” Evert told USA TODAY Sports in an interview. “The players are only getting better. The workload, the training is only harder. She has been on tour for 15 years. You just wonder.
“I would be surprised to see her come back.”
But Evert’s ESPN colleague Pam Shriver, a former world No. 1 in doubles, sees the time off as most important for Sharapova in a sport that continues to get older.
“I think a lot depends on how she spends that year and a half,” Shriver said in a phone interview. “She is going to be 30 when the suspension is over. If you think of all the tennis players playing great tennis from 30 to 35, it’s an era of tennis when you’re still in your prime at that age. A twoyear absence is devastating in so many ways for Maria, but what I want to know is how they are going to spend that time. Is she going to compete in tennis events outside of this jurisdiction?”
Lindsay Davenport, a former world No. 1 and Tennis Channel contributor, says she sees the ban as fair because of Sharapova’s lack of transparency. Players are asked to submit forms listing what drugs they are taking.
“To me, her declaration forms would be huge in her innocence and intent,” Davenport wrote in an email. “As a former player who has filled out those forms many times, it clearly asks for everything that you put in your body, from Advil to vitamins to birth control to you name it. The fact that she never once wrote it down even though she tested positive multiple times in 2015 and twice in 2016 is very incriminating to me.”
Davenport sees a comeback for Sharapova hinging on the length of ban: Should it be reduced, there is a chance.
“If the two years stands, I don’t think she will come back,” Davenport said.
Sharapova released a statement Wednesday saying her team planned to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Professor Dionne Koller, director of the Center for Sport and the Law at the University of Baltimore, told USA TODAY Sports the two-year ban was typical in these types of cases and a reduced sentence was unlikely for Sharapova.
“It’s tough to say,” Koller said. “The reason why I would say she doesn’t have a great deal of chance to have it reduced is because she didn’t have any great reason for taking the drug. She tried to argue that is was for therapeutic use or that she should get exempted, and that didn’t hold up with the panel. She did not fall in the meldonium grace period that WADA gave; the drug was found in her in a remarkable level.”
Evert is shocked that Sharapova did not check the updated banned list Jan. 1 to learn that meldonium had been added.
“She is one of the most organized professionals out there,” Evert said. “To not even check the drugs that … I’m speechless. This is a woman who is all about control both on and off the court. I don’t get it. It’s a tough way to go out for her.”
Shriver said Sharapova, who is known for her meticulous planning, needed to use that skill if she wanted to make a comeback.
“Sharapova at age 85 will be competitive; she has it in her DNA,” Shriver said. “This offers her a total rest and ability to recover in ways that she hasn’t before. When you’re competing, even in your time off you always feel pressure, you feel that you’re under the gun. If I was her camp — and they have failed her miserably in so many ways — they need a smart plan of attack.”
Regardless of a comeback, Evert said this suspension would follow Sharapova for the rest of her career.
“I’m afraid it will,” Evert said. “That will be her introduction: the five-time Grand Slam champion that tested positive. It’s really sad in a way, but it happened, and she can’t change it.”