Dopes

Seriously, ITF, go home, you're drunk.

If you have been under a tennis rock, The International Tennis Federation has suspended Serbian ATPer Viktor Troicki 18 months for violating their substance abuse policy (See the official case summary here). On April 15 of this year, a Doping Control Officer (DCO) showed up during the Monte Carlo Masters to take blood and urine samples from Troicki (who was selected at random). Here is where everything gets murky.

Troicki, who has a documented fear of needles, claims that he was very sick that day and would prefer not to give a blood sample that day, rather the day after. According to Troicki, the DCO concurred and just took a urine sample from him on that day and collected the blood sample the following day. Both samples came back clean. However, the ITF found that the DCO did not, and could not, assure him that it would be okay to take the blood sample the next day. There are rules that state that the DCO must make clear the implications of skipping a test, especially in matters involving language issues. Per Troicki's and the ITF's statements, however, it doesn't look like that clearly was the case. Once again, tennis finds itself lost in translation.

I am not trying to say that Troicki is completely innocent and does not deserve to get punished in some form. He's been a pro for awhile and should know that there can be repercussions for missing a test. But did he really "miss" it? The DCO came back the next day when Troicki felt better to administer the blood test. The same DCO who said he should be fine by writing a letter to the ITF about the delayed sample. The same ITF which rules state that those randomly selected should be tested that very day. The same ITF who sent the DCO to begin with. This screams "disconnect".

Shouldn't there be a case of extenuating circumstances, knowing that Troicki was sick, knowing that he has a phobia of needles, knowing that there was an exchange between the DCO and Troicki regarding delaying the test one day, and knowing that he was clean on both his urine and blood samples, although administered on different days? An 18-month ban with the sheer quantity of factors for the delayed blood test is beyond harsh. Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, who basically failed his PEDs test TWICE, has only been suspended for basically less than three months. And he's being paid so much more money than any tennis player on any given year. While this says more about the MLB's very lax penalties, the ITF needs to consider the facts and the implications when they suspend a player for that long.

With PEDs becoming a major topic of sports in the U.S. this summer, even more so now that tennis may be linked to Biogenesis, it's difficult to completely stand behind any athlete and say that he is definitely clean (looking at you, Aaron Rodgers). Still, it's harsh that there are such career-changing implications that come from a break in communication.

What say you? Is the ITF too harsh? Think Troicki deserves what he got? Leave a comment and a urine sample.

Actually, don't leave a urine sample. That's gross.

Who Framed Roger Federer?

Seeing Federer at No. 5 in the ATP rankings is weird for all of us. God knows how he must be feeling about his tumble, especially because he was No. 1 this time last year.

Even weirder is his schedule this summer that has him playing Hamburg and Gstaad on CLAY, back-to-back. What? So many questions, so little answers, but Roger revealed one important detail about the remainder of his season and, possibly, his career: he has a new racquet!

One of the big critiques against the G.O.A.T. was the small frame of his racquet leaving him prone to wild errors should he not make precision-perfect contact with the ball. Of course, he was doing a lot of winning with his "subpar" 90-inch frame. But it goes to show that Roger will keep making adjustments and finding ways to stay at the top of the game. I was apprehensive about his summer schedule on Euroclay, but it looks like he wants to get a few matches in with his new magic wand close to home before showing it off in the States for the U.S. Open Series. Panic alert down to yellow, for now. It was a deep orange post Wimblegeddon Wednesday.

What do you guys make of Fed's upgrade? Long overdue? Grasping at straws? He's quickly fallen behind the other guys in the Big 4, so we'll see if this gets him back in the mix with Rafa, Nole, and Andy.

R.I.P. Fed's old racquet. We'll miss your shanks.

The People's Champion

There is a little Andy Murray in all of us.

We can point to his awkwardness, his propensity to admonish himself at his mistakes, his dull tone when he speaks, and his less-than-supermodel looks. Even when it comes to his tennis, he doesn't have the awe-inspiring, unmatchable playstyles that his Big Four contemporaries do. He's normal. He's awkward. He's human.

That's what makes him the ultimate People's Champion. He's been the runt of the top guys for years and has had to slog his way to the mountaintop by fighting for every ball, working to improve all facets of his game, and sacrificing living a normal life, even as a tennis player, to become a multiple Grand Slam winner within the span of 12 months. What better way for that to culminate at Wimbledon with a straight set victory over his primary rival of this period of the Golden Era.

His many years of heartbreak, and sometimes embarrassment, at Grand Slam finals could have broken him for good. He could have given in to the superhumans talents of Roger Federer that have dazed him on big stages in the past, or to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, his age mates in this era who have already experienced wildly dominant periods in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Rather, he retooled his game, hired a new coach at the start of 2012, and slowly began to rewrite his history. He did this all the hard way and found success in the end, which inspires hope in everyone willing to work towards a dream.

The season is not over and his legacy is far from being carved into stone, so I am sure that achieving a seemingly ultimate achievement will not satisfy Andy for more than 24 hours. He will be back practicing for summer hard courts soon preparing to defend his U.S. Open title, something he's never had to do before. Still, you have to bet on him going forward as he has proven time after time that he belongs with the alphas of men's tennis. Except he's just a little more like you and me.

Congratulations, Andy Murray! May the name Fred Perry and the year 1936 forever rest in peace.

Baby, Remember Their Names

Oh, hey there. It's been a while, my apologies. Between my hectic job, singing with Andrea Bocelli, getting sick, and unforeseen social commitments, the time I would normally take to blog was instead used to stare blankly at Excel, interact with other humans, and sleep. However, all of the aforementioned trivial activities take a backseat to the last two rounds of Wimbledon!

We took a wild ride to the semifinals and we've lost a collection of big names, but while the four left on the men's side as a whole are not particularly surprising, but the ladies' draw has been massacred beyond belief, culminating with the ousting of Serena on Manic Monday. The major "pro" for this decimation is that we will have a brand new Slam winner on Saturday. The problem with this foursome can be summed up in a one-word question: "WHO?"

Not to worry! Here's a few ideas to turn each of these girls into a star should they take home the Venus Rosewater Dish:

Agnieszka Radwanska: clearly, in a historical context at least, the "Andy Murray" of the WTA Big Four. Crafty, clever, yet just a tick outmatched by her primary counterparts. She is THE shotmaker of the Circuit (cue highlight reel) and won the Junior Wimbledon crown in 2005. How great would it be if she could nab her first major here, too?

Marion Bartoli: the feisty, spirited competitor who doesn't back down. Her coach/advisor is former Wimbledon champ Amelie Mauresmo, who inspired her to focus on Wimbledon. She bounces and practice swings between points to get in her opponents' heads. Marion will be responsible for the wave of young tennis players skipping around behind the baseline just to piss off the other players.

Kirsten Flipkens: she couldn't even get into Wimbledon last year. Like, they legit would not let her through the gates. She was playing Challengers in Micronesia and Antarctica just to get her ranking up enough to qualify for qualifying rounds of tour-level events! She is just a consummate workhorse. (I'm pretty sure this comes close to the narrative currently out there.)

Sabine Lisicki: she's pretty, she's blonde, she cries when she wins, and she clearly has no respect for the French Open. What's not to like? She's already the oddsmakers favorite and has the title of "I Beat Serena" generating a lot of buzz for her. After all the upsets she has accomplished over the years, it would be more than fitting for her to fluke her way to a Wimbledon title without it being a fluke at all.

Personally, I would love it if Aga wins this one. It's right there in front of her and would ease a lot of the burden she would feel in her career going forward. Plus, I think she's the best player in this draw on this surface. Who do you have reaching the mountaintop? Pick one and say why by leaving a comment. No, you can't still pick Serena.

(Edit: about me picking Aga to win this tournament...but she did win best snub)