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Berdych Ready For Tokyo 2016

  • Posted: Oct 05, 2016

Berdych Ready For Tokyo 2016

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Johanna Konta beats Timea Babos to reach China Open third round

  • Posted: Oct 05, 2016

British number one Johanna Konta boosted her hopes of reaching the WTA Finals in Singapore by beating Hungary’s Timea Babos in straight sets to reach the China Open third round.

The World number 14 won 7-5 6-2.

The 25-year-old will next face either Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic or Russia’s Daria Kasatkina.

Konta is currently ninth in the race to Singapore. The top eight qualify for the tournament, which takes place from 23-30 October.

She could also break into the world’s top 10 for the first time and join Virginia Wade, Sue Barker and Jo Durie as the only Britons to achieve the feat on the WTA Tour.

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Vote For Fans' Favourite In 2016 ATP World Tour Awards

  • Posted: Oct 05, 2016

Vote For Fans' Favourite In 2016 ATP World Tour Awards

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Goffin Reflects On Nishioka Victory In Tokyo

  • Posted: Oct 04, 2016

Goffin Reflects On Nishioka Victory In Tokyo

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Kyrgios Talks Enthusiastic Fans In Tokyo

  • Posted: Oct 04, 2016

Kyrgios Talks Enthusiastic Fans In Tokyo

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ITF warns players after Sharapova drugs ban is reduced

  • Posted: Oct 04, 2016

Tennis players will not be able to plead ignorance if they test positive for banned substances, says the International Tennis Federation.

Ex-world number one Maria Sharapova, 29, had a two-year ban reduced to 15 months after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) ruled she was not told about a change in the drug’s status.

She tested positive for meldonium less than a month after it was banned.

The ITF said “appropriate steps were taken to publicise any changes”.

But, in a statement, it added: “Nonetheless, we have reviewed, and will continue to review, our processes for communicating changes to the prohibited list to players with the aim of ensuring that no player can claim that they had not been fully informed.”

  • What is meldonium?
  • Watch: How to avoid failing a drugs test
  • ‘Lots of people have congratulated Head for Sharapova support’

Sharapova is a five-time Grand Slam winner and was Forbes’ highest-paid female athlete for 11 consecutive years, until American Serena Williams moved above her this year.

The Russian, whose suspension is backdated to the date of her first positive test on 26 January 2016, can return to action on 26 April 2017.

“I have learned from this, and I hope the ITF has as well,” she said.

Sharapova tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in January 2016 and an out-of-competition test on 2 February.

She said she had been taking the drug since 2006 for health reasons and was unaware it had been added to World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) banned list as she knew it only by the name mildronate.

However, the Cas appeal hearing said Sharapova was at fault for not giving her agent “adequate instructions” in checking Wada’s prohibited list and “failing to supervise and control” her agent.

Sharapova’s lawyer, John Haggerty, called the Cas decision “a stunning repudiation of the ITF” and that “it exposes the ITF decision for what it is – pure fiction”.

“As we demonstrated before Cas, not only did the tennis anti-doping authorities fail to properly warn Maria, if you compare what the ITF did with how other federations warned athletes of the rule change, it’s a night and day difference,” he added.

The chief executive – Johan Eliasch – of one of Sharapova’s sponsors, racquet manufacturer Head, said “justice had been served” and called the original ITF decision “wholly unfair”.

Eliasch said “there is no doubt Maria broke a rule” but he claims there are inconsistencies in the anti-doping regime and changes are needed.

“This calls into question the revelations about certain Olympic athletes who were granted therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for substances that could most certainly be considered performance enhancing and have been proven to be performance enhancing under significant clinical testing,” added Eliasch.

“Meldonium, the substance that Maria had been taking, has yet to be proven under any significant clinical testing to have any performance enhancing benefits.”

Eliasch called for “a wholesale comprehensive review and change to the anti-doping system in identifying performance enhancing drugs”.

Former Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade said it was “inexcusable” for Sharapova to find herself in this situation.

However, speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Wade added: “She’s 100% right. The ITF should be more clear.

“The players need to be much more attentive and you have got to realise that, even if you are trying everything to make yourself feel better, do better, be stronger, that it has to be within the rules.”

Pat Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon men’s champion, said the 15-month ban was “just a little bit on the lenient side”, although he believed Sharapova did not know the drug was banned.

He also accepted that Sharapova had a “fair point” when it came to the ITF.

Cash added: “There is no doubt her image has been tarnished. Her reputation will never quite be the same.”

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

“Sharapova could return to the WTA Tour in Prague or Rabat in the first week of May and, if a wildcard is forthcoming, the French Open will be on her schedule just four weeks later.

“She will be 30 by the time she returns, but 2017 will no longer be a write-off, even though it is likely to take her several months to regain her sharpness.

“The crux of the matter is that the court decided it was reasonable for Sharapova to delegate her anti-doping duties to Max Eisenbud and the IMG agency, even if on this occasion those duties were not exercised with remotely enough care.

“In the past three years, both Marin Cilic and Viktor Troicki have also successfully argued less blame should be laid at their door.

“Cas has repeatedly set a player’s bar of responsibility lower than the ITF think it should be – and as a result there must be a concern some players may in future take anti-doping less seriously than they should.”

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#NextGen Zverev Upsets Thiem In Beijing

  • Posted: Oct 04, 2016

#NextGen Zverev Upsets Thiem In Beijing

Rising German records fourth Top 10 win of 2016

#NextGen star Alexander Zverev continued his outstanding 2016 season with an opening round win on Tuesday at the China Open over fourth seed Dominic Thiem, pushing him closer to finishing the year inside the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

The 19 year old German rallied from a set down to defeat World No. 10 Thiem 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, extending his ATP World Tour win streak to six matches. He also improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Thiem to 1-3. All three losses against the Austrian came this year on clay courts.

Zverev won the final four games of the match to secure his place in the second round. He applied pressure on Thiem’s serve throughout the contest by earning 14 break points. Zverev also had an impressive serving display in the final two sets, firing eight aces and winning 79 per cent of his first serve points.

You May Also Like: #NextGen Zverev Beats Wawrinka For First ATP World Tour Title

Zverev now has four Top 10 wins in 2016. He shocked Roger Federer in June at the Gerry Weber Open, then scored back-to-back wins over Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka last month to win his first ATP World Tour title at the St. Petersburg Open.

Having started the year at No. 83 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Zverev has soared to his current standing at No. 24. He is less than 100 points away from the Top 20 and has nothing to defend for the rest of the year, making him a strong contender to achieve that milestone.

Next up for Zverev at the China Open is fellow rising star Jack Sock.

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Murray Continues Seppi Streak In Beijing

  • Posted: Oct 04, 2016

Murray Continues Seppi Streak In Beijing

Raonic, Thiem to play Tuesday

Top seed Andy Murray continued his dominance over Andreas Seppi on Tuesday at the China Open, notching his eighth consecutive over the Italian in a convincing opening round win, 6-2, 7-5.

“I feel like I’m able to get a lot of chances when he’s serving, give myself a lot of opportunities to break,” said Murray. “He’s got very good timing, hits the ball very clean off both sides. I try to use some variety and not let him get into a rhythm. That’s worked well for me.”

Having struggled with a shoulder injury during the Western & Southern Open final in August, Murray said he’s fully healthy now and eager to make a run for the title.

“I thought I did okay considering I hadn’t played much the past couple of weeks. I think I can do better,” said Murray. “But there was some good stuff in there. With each match, I’ll play better hopefully. No injuries. Felt fine. Just need matches now.”

You May Also Like: Murray: Reaching No. 1 Is A Goal

The World No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings broke Seppi twice in each set and put pressure on the Italian’s serve throughout the match, racking up 11 break points compared to just one for Seppi. The British star was also dominant on serve, firing eight aces and winning 88 per cent of his first serve points.

He now leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Seppi 8-1. Seppi won their first ATP World Tour meeting at the Aegon Open Nottingham in 2006, but Murray has won matches against him on every surface since then.

Next up for Murray is the winner of the all-Russian opening round between Andrey Kuznetsov and qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk. The top seed has never played Kravchuk, but leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry over Kuznetsov 1-0.

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Sharapova drugs ban reduced to 15 months

  • Posted: Oct 04, 2016

Maria Sharapova’s two-year doping ban has been reduced to 15 months following her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The five-time Grand Slam winner, 29, was initially banned by the International Tennis Federation for two years after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.

The Russian will be able to return to the tennis court on 26 April, 2017.

“I am counting the days until I can return,” she said.

“In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me and it will feel really good to have it back. Tennis is my passion and I have missed it.”

  • More reaction to Sharapova’s reduced ban
  • What is meldonium?
  • Watch: How to avoid failing a drugs test

Meldonium, a heart disease drug also known as mildronate, became a banned substance on 1 January 2016.

Sharapova said she had been taking the drug since 2006 for health problems and had “not tried to use a performance-enhancing substance”.

She said she was unaware the drug had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) banned list.

The former world number one said she could not “accept” the “unfairly harsh” ban when it was announced in June.

The Cas panel said it found Sharapova’s case “was not about an athlete who cheated”, but added she “bore significant fault for her violation”.

It added that Sharapova was at fault for not giving her agent “adequate instructions” in checking Wada’s prohibited list and “failing to supervise and control” her agent.

The tribunal ruling said Sharapova tested positive for meldonium in an out-of-competition test on 2 February, as well as in the aftermath of her Australian Open quarter-final defeat by Serena Williams on 26 January.

It treated both results as a single anti-doping violation.

‘One of my happiest days’

Sharapova won the Wimbledon singles title as a 17-year-old in 2004, going on to win the Australian, French and US Opens to complete a career Grand Slam.

However, she has not played professional tennis since losing to 22-time Grand Slam champion Williams.

Her suspension is backdated to 26 January 2016, meaning Sharapova can return to competitive action before next year’s French Open in May.

“I’ve gone from one of the toughest days of my career last March when I learned about my suspension to now, one of my happiest days, as I found out I can return to tennis in April,” she said.

“I have learned from this, and I hope the ITF has as well. Cas concluded that ‘the panel has determined it does not agree with many of the conclusions of the ITF tribunal’.

“I have taken responsibility from the very beginning for not knowing that the over-the-counter supplement I had been taking for the last 10 years was no longer allowed.

“But I also learned how much better other federations were at notifying their athletes of the rule change, especially in Eastern Europe where mildronate is commonly taken by millions of people.

“Now that this process is over, I hope the ITF and other relevant tennis anti-doping authorities will study what these other federations did, so that no other tennis player will have to go through what I went through.”

Sponsor ‘proud to have stood by Sharapova’

Racquet manufacturer Head, which extended its contract with Sharapova despite her positive test, congratulated her ban was reduced.

Nike suspended its relationship with Sharapova in March, before saying it would stand by her following the tribunal’s findings in June.

Car manufacturer Porsche said it would wait to see the outcome of her appeal, while Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer cut ties with her in March.

Sharapova was Forbes’ highest-paid female athlete for 11 consecutive years, until American tennis player Serena Williams moved above her this year.

The latest Forbes figures have Sharapova’s winnings and endorsements at £17.1m, compared with £22.6m for Williams.

‘She’s thrown the ITF under the bus’ – social media reaction

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