Rafael Nadal, one of the most successful Spanish tennis players in history, recently announced his decision to withdraw from the upcoming 2013 Qatar Open and 2013 Australian Open. His medical doctor and his coach confirmed that the decision was based on a stomach flu that has recently plagued Nadal. The decision is yet another in string of several last minute withdrawals due to injuries and illnesses. These have fueled speculation that they are somehow, some way related to anabolic steroids. [Read more…]

When Lance Armstrong was on top of the world dominating the sport of cycling for seven Tour de France victories, many people profited immensely from his success. The sport of cycling itself, his sponsors, his teammates and his doctors. But once society decided to knock Armstrong off the pedestal they were so eager to build for him, almost everyone linked to Armstrong seemed to experience a dramatic reversal of fortune. [Read more…]

The anti-steroid hysteria has spread from professional cycling to the sport of tennis. Several pro tennis players have jumped on the bandwagon. They have called for increased anti-doping testing in the sport. The world’s top three tennis players joined the chorus of anti-doping advocates in the sport. Number one ranked Novak Djokovic, number two ranked Roger Federer and number-three ranked Andy Murray all expressed their support of more steroid testing. [Read more…]

David Howman, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), expressed his satisfaction with the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) compliance to the WADA Code. He recently told Douglas Robson of USA Today that the most effective anti-doping programs make the best use of money when determining how frequently to test athletes. [Read more…]

Yannick Noah, the 1981 French Open tennis champion, believes that the anabolic steroids and doping problem in sports is even worse than he previously imagined. Noah thanks the Lance Armstrong doping scandal for opening his eyes to the pervasiveness of steroid use in sports. Noah spoke to The Australian newspaper about the Lance Armstrong scandal as well as discussing Spanish athletes and the future of sport. [Read more…]

Sara Errani, a rising star who is one of the top-ranked women’s tennis players, has been linked to one of the doctors implicated in the doping scandal involving Lance Armstrong and the United States Postal Service pro cycling team. Errani is one of several international athletes in a variety of sports who have scrambled to defend themselves from charges of guilt by association. [Read more…]

Spanish athletes have sharply criticized former tennis champion Yannick Noah over an editorial he wrote for the French newspaper Le Monde. In “La Potion Magique”, Noah suggested that the incredible sporting success of Spain in recent years was due to their unfettered use of “the magic potion”. The magic potion was meant to refer to anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs. Noah asserted that Spanish athletes were more muscular than French athletes and offered this as the only “proof” that they had used steroids. [Read more…]