Simona Halep suspended for positive doping test taken at US Open

[MargaretMcAleer]

What amuses me is that Patrick M has remained silent when the news broke of the suspension of Simona Halep?
Though he was quick to come on Twitter and announce on the 12th of October that he was going to coach Holger Rune for the rest of 2023? with Halep's permission seeing she underwent sinus surgery after the USO and decided to end her season for 2022.

 

[kskate2]

What amuses me is that Patrick M has remained silent when the news broke of the suspension of Simona Halep?
Though he was quick to come on Twitter and announce on the 12th of October that he was going to coach Holger Rune for the rest of 2023? with Halep's permission seeing she underwent sinus surgery after the USO and decided to end her season for 2022.

He's actually zipped his lips for a change. This might be one time I agree he should remain silent. It's not his responsibility to help her research meds. Like Pova, she has plenty of $$ to hire someone to do that.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

He's actually zipped his lips for a change. This might be one time I agree he should remain silent. It's not his responsibility to help her research meds. Like Pova, she has plenty of $$ to hire someone to do that.

I realize it is not his job to research meds,that is the sole responsibility of a player, I just thought he would have offered some support, seeing he is her coach,that is all, other players on Twitter have come out in support of Halep

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Interested to see what excuse comes up, could be bizarre like the recent ones from Errani and Yastremska. Don't remember if Haddad Maia came up with one

In the Haddad Maia case , she was found to bear 'no significant fault' her suspension was reduced to 10 months.
In the Yastremska case, she was found to bear' no fault or negligence and her suspension overturned

 

[Moxie]

No doubt this seems true, but as to her legacy, like Pova's it's tarnished 4ever. Every person caught doping has to answer for that result. Some people can come back from it, but most don't. Remember Lepchenko?

Sharapova is an interesting case, because the drug she used was only banned right before she got caught. She copped to using it, and made some excuse of "missing the memo," but it means that everything she did before was on that drug, so yes, comprises the legacy, hugely, especially since she was never able to get back to the same heights without it.

 

[Moxie]

What amuses me is that Patrick M has remained silent when the news broke of the suspension of Simona Halep?
Though he was quick to come on Twitter and announce on the 12th of October that he was going to coach Holger Rune for the rest of 2023? with Halep's permission seeing she underwent sinus surgery after the USO and decided to end her season for 2022.

I have to say, I thought it was weird that she was undergoing sinus surgery and ending her season. I see it was after the USO. And Patrick took on another charge. Not to be completely conspiratorial, but is it possible she knew she got a dirty test, let Mourataglou off the hook to take someone else on, and shut down her year, figuring she'd have to deal with the doping issue?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I have to say, I thought it was weird that she was undergoing sinus surgery and ending her season. I see it was after the USO. And Patrick took on another charge. Not to be completely conspiratorial, but is it possible she knew she got a dirty test, let Mourataglou off the hook to take someone else on, and shut down her year, figuring she'd have to deal with the doping issue?

You and I are on the same page, I found it quite suspicious that he declared on Twitter on October 12, with Halep's permission to coach Holger Rune for the rest of the season, I mean we have heard that before with Patrick, he said the same regarding Serena, that when she was still out of action, and said Serena gave him permission to coach another player, which was Halep? strange that, that coaching partnership was over, when Patrick also declared that on Twitter.. I think he already knew Halep was suspended for doping , Holger was already at his coaching academy and probably said he was free to personally coach him for the rest of the year, it looks like now he will be coaching Rune in 2023, unless Halep can get her suspension overturned.

 

[Moxie]

You and I are on the same page, I found it quite suspicious that he declared on Twitter on October 12, with Halep's permission to coach Holger Rune for the rest of the season, I mean we have heard that before with Patrick, he said the same regarding Serena, when she was still out of action, and said Serena gave him permission to coach another player, which was Halep? strange that. I think he already knew Halep was suspended for doping , Holger was already at his coaching academy and probably said he was free to personally coach him for the rest of the year, it looks like now he will be coaching Rune in 2023, unless Halep can get her suspension overturned.

I'm not clear on the parallel you're making with Serena.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I'm not clear on the parallel you're making with Serena.

As far as I am concerned Patrick's and Serena's partnership had ended before, he came on Twitter and said, Serena gave him permission to find another coaching stint, he then went on and coached Halep.

 

[Moxie]

As far as I am concerned Patrick's and Serena's partnership had ended before, he came on Twitter and said, Serena gave him permission to find another coaching stint, he then went on and coached Halep.

But you said, "strange that." I don't think there was anything strange about it. Probably you didn't mean anything by it. I agree we are on the same page about wondering about the Halep situation with re: to Patrick.

 

[AnonymousFan]

In the Haddad Maia case , she was found to bear 'no significant fault' her suspension was reduced to 10 months.
In the Yastremska case, she was found to bear' no fault or negligence and her suspension overturned

Oh wow, I forgot about this. Google says Haddad Maia blamed contaminated supplements, and Yastremska a "contaminated event."

Anyway they came back and barely anyone mentions it anymore, same as with whatever happened with Cilic.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

But you said, "strange that." I don't think there was anything strange about it. Probably you didn't mean anything by it. I agree we are on the same page about wondering about the Halep situation with re: to Patrick.

When I say ' strange that' I did not mean ...'anything strange about it, I should have been more specific....to me Patrick has done this twice, once in saying that he got permission off Serena to find another player to coach, second time getting permission from Helep to coach another player.I said 'strange that' more in a flippant way.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oh wow, I forgot about this. Google says Haddad Maia blamed contaminated supplements, and Yastremska a "contaminated event."

Anyway they came back and barely anyone mentions it anymore, same as with whatever happened with Cilic.

What about the incident with Gasquet? lol! I nearly fell off my chair when he was accused of sniffing cocaine in a night club? I think that was the case, anyway from memory he got off didnt he?

 

[AnonymousFan]

What about the incident with Gasquet? lol! I nearly fell off my chair when he was accused of sniffing cocaine in a night club? I think that was the case, anyway from memory he got off didnt he?

yes Google says "an ITF panel overturned the ban in July, accepting Gasquet's claim that the substance was only in his system due to him kissing a woman who had taken cocaine at a nightclub."

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

yes Google says "an ITF panel overturned the ban in July, accepting Gasquet's claim that the substance was only in his system due to him kissing a woman who had taken cocaine at a nightclub."

Thanks it is all coming back to me now........LOL! poor Ritchie I am glad he was innocent, there has to be a moral to that incident, dont kiss women in nightclubs, especially woman you do not know

 

[Moxie]

Thanks it is all coming back to me now........LOL! poor Ritchie I am glad he was innocent, there has to be a moral to that incident, dont kiss women in nightclubs, especially woman you do not know

As much as this one sounded almost like the most implausible, it's possible that it was the most true. Supposedly he was partying in Miami, and did "kiss" some random girl. But the amount of cocaine in his test was some very small tenths of a readable amount. Of all the arguments out there recently for reconsideration, Gasquet's was the most plausible, IMO. A) Because it was such a nearly undetectable amount, and B) because it was a recreational drug, not a performance-enhancing one. For the PED's that people like Simona get accused of, and what they are generally prescribed for, it's really hard to figure out where is the mistake in taking them.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

As much as this one sounded almost like the most implausible, it's possible that it was the most true. Supposedly he was partying in Miami, and did "kiss" some random girl. But the amount of cocaine in his test was some very small tenths of a readable amount. Of all the arguments out there recently for reconsideration, Gasquet's was the most plausible, IMO. A) Because it was such a nearly undetectable amount, and B) because it was a recreational drug, not a performance-enhancing one. For the PED's that people like Simona get accused of, and what they are generally prescribed for, it's really hard to figure out where is the mistake in taking them.

Well I am against drugs full stop, recreational or enhancing performance drugs, there is a full list that all tennis players need to read, what drugs are acceptable and ones that are not. If a player has a medical problem and they need to take a drug for example outside the list they need to get in contact with the ATP or WTA and explain their medical situation, and get the go ahead to take them.

 

[kskate2]

I realize it is not his job to research meds,that is the sole responsibility of a player, I just thought he would have offered some support, seeing he is her coach,that is all, other players on Twitter have come out in support of Halep

I'm sure he called her and they talked. And I'm inclined to agree w/ you and Mox that he knew she was getting suspended. He likely told her he couldn't wait around on her to get this ban lifted and would be taking on a new charge. The difference between the Serena and Simona situation is he went to see Serena at home and gave her that ultimatum. So to save face when she didn't show up he put out that BS about Serena told him he could work w/ someone else. What he didn't know was that she was retiring this year. She was not going to be pushed back on court before she was ready to start her goodbye tour.

 

[Moxie]

I'm sure he called her and they talked. And I'm inclined to agree w/ you and Mox that he knew she was getting suspended. He likely told her he couldn't wait around on her to get this ban lifted and would be taking on a new charge. The difference between the Serena and Simona situation is he went to see Serena at home and gave her that ultimatum. So to save face when she didn't show up he put out that BS about Serena told him he could work w/ someone else. What he didn't know was that she was retiring this year. She was not going to be pushed back on court before she was ready to start her goodbye tour.

I think the players know immediately, or close to it. It takes a while for it to go public. They said the bad test was at the US Open. And she went out in the first round. That was nearly two months ago. Does it really take that long for the test results to come back? I think not. So she had all of this time to invent a sinus surgery she needs, release Patrick to take on another player, and work on her excuses. Hmmm.....

 

[Kieran]

Sharapova is an interesting case, because the drug she used was only banned right before she got caught. She copped to using it, and made some excuse of "missing the memo," but it means that everything she did before was on that drug, so yes, comprises the legacy, hugely, especially since she was never able to get back to the same heights without it.

As an excuse, this one gets filed under “the dog ate it” as an excuse for not doing your homework for school. I’d have zero tolerance for drug cheats. Total ban from the sport. Nobody will miss them. There are times when the excuse seems at least a little plausible, and so they reduce or even erase the ban, but there are more times when the amount of drugs found in the system won’t wash with the excuse that it might have been from a steak I ate from doped cow, yer honour, a la the egregious Korda…