Sharapova And Williams Say WTA Drug Program Is Sufficient

Written by: Staff on 24th October 2012

WTA Championships: Serena Williams - Angelique Kerber

Sharapova And Williams Say WTA Drug Program Is Sufficient

epa03443917 Serena Williams of the US returns the ball to Angelique Kerber of Germany during their match at the round-robin stage of the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 23 October 2012. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU |

The current spiraling fall from grace of Lance Armstrong has brought the issue of drug testing in today’s sport once more into the focus. However the two household names of female tennis, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, both insist the current measures laid down by the World Anti Doping Agency and adhered to by the WTA are sufficient.

Williams and Sharapova, who both got their TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships campaigns off to winning starts at Istanbul’s Sinan Erdem Dome, maintain they are tested more than regularly during the course of the year, both during tournaments and the off-season.

“Stringent enough is putting it mildly,” said Williams, a 14 years veteran of world-class competition, when asked about the current level of surveillance. “I get tested a lot.

“People show up at my house at five in the morning trying to test me. You never know when they come. I don’t know about the other players, but for me it’s a pretty intense system, and I know a lot of the players feel the same way.”

Sharapova, who has been playing on the WTA since 2003, was in agreement. “Are they enough?” she asked. “Considering I landed from New York and my first day back at home I got a wake-up call at 6am, I think that’s enough. I was like, ‘thank you – welcome home’.”

However Sharapova maintains the current level of testing is understandable given the way performance enhancing banned substances taint the reputations of so many sports.

She said: “I know it seems difficult to have to give one hour every single day, but I usually have my hour somewhere in the middle of the night because I’m not going to be anywhere but in my bed.

“If they come get me up they can wait and I can wait until I have to go to the bathroom. It’s the most awkward thing when they knock on your door at six in the morning.”

Both Williams and Sharapova were in ruthless form as they began their round robin matches in Istanbul . Williams, playing her first competitive match for five weeks, pummeled the 24-year-old German debutante at the event, Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-1. Then Sharapova scored an efficient 6-3, 6-2 win over the event’s other newcomer, Sara Errani of Italy .

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Istanbul tennis news, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Sports, TEB BNP Paribas, tennis doping, Tennis News, Wta Championships, WTA Drug program