Tennis authorities to set up virus relief fund for players

PARIS, France -- The international governing bodies of tennis said on Tuesday a relief programme will be created to provide assistance to players most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

World tennis has been at a standstill since the beginning of March and will not resume until mid-July at the earliest following the postponement of Roland Garros and the cancellation of Wimbledon.

"With so much uncertainty around when it will be safe to restart the professional tennis tours, the international governing bodies of world tennis can confirm they are in discussions to create a Player Relief Programme," read a joint statement from the ATP, WTA, ITF and four Grand Slam tournaments.

It will provide "much-needed assistance to the players who are particularly affected during this time of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis."

No amount was disclosed but "details are being finalised with an announcement expected in the near future," the statement added.

"Already agreed is that the ATP and the WTA will administer the Player Relief Programme and all seven stakeholders will make a significant contribution."

Novak Djokovic on Saturday revealed he was working with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to organise aid for players struggling with the paralysis of the game due to the health crisis.

The world number one estimated raising "between $3 million (2.75 million euros) and $4.5 million". He said the cash could come from the prize money for the season-ending World Tour Finals or the final bonus pools for top players.

According to reports Djokovic, as president of the ATP Players' Council, proposed to members that players in the top 100 for singles and the top 20 in doubles contribute according to their rankings. 

The proposed scale runs from $30,000 for a top-five player to $5,000 for those between 51 and 100. 

Agence France-Presse

Croats dance as Davis Cup victors come home

ZAGREB - Thousands of Croats danced and cheered in Zagreb's central square on Monday as they welcomed their national tennis team back home and celebrated its Davis Cup victory.

Top-ranked Marin Cilic and other players boarded a special bus straight from the airport, drove into the heart of the capital and climbed onto a stage in Ban Jelacic Square to greet their fans.

As footage of their best moments played out on a video wall behind them, the players sang and danced along with the flag-waving crowd.

"We're extremely happy to bring this trophy to Croatia and to show everyone that we are the best," Cilic said from the stage as he held up the prize.

Croatia's 3-1 defeat of France over the weekend was the second time it has won the trophy, after beating Slovakia in 2005.

It was also Croatia's second major sporting clash with France this year - the first was Croatia's 4-2 defeat in the World Cup soccer final in Moscow in July.

"We are proud of our guys. They struck back after the defeat of our soccer team," one of the revellers in Zagreb said.

(Reporting by Igor Ilic Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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US beat Germany in Fed Cup tie marred by anthem gaffe

LOS ANGELES -- CoCo Vandeweghe defeated Andrea Petkovic Sunday to deliver the killing blow in a nightmare Fed Cup tie for Germany that had kicked off with a first-day national anthem gaffe.

Petkovic and her teammates were angered Saturday when an American soloist sang an old version of the German anthem that begins with a stanza considered overtly nationalist -- "Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" -- a reference to German supremacy.

Singing that version is unwelcome in Germany because of its strong links to the Nazi era, with only the third stanza of the old anthem now used.

  
"I have never felt so disrespected in my life," Petkovic said Saturday. "It was an absolute effrontery and insolence of the very worst kind.

Things would get no better for Germany on the court in Maui, Hawaii.

Petkovic, a 12-time Fed Cup singles winner, lost to Alison Riske 7-6 (12/10), 6-2 in Saturday's only completed match.

The US women took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five tie when Julia Georges, who was in tears after the anthem error, retired Sunday with a knee injury in a rain-disrupted match with Vandeweghe leading 6-3, 3-1.

Georges was hurt slipping on a rain-slicked baseline on the last point played Saturday.

Petkovic was up again on Sunday with the tie on the line, taking on shock Australian Open semi-finalist Vandeweghe.

Petkovic broke Vandeweghe in three of her first four service games to take the first set 6-3, and was up 4-2 in the second when the American took a medical timeout for heat illness.

From there it was all Vandeweghe -- she won the next 10 games to win the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 and put the United States into a semi-final tie in April with defending champions the Czech Republic, who beat Spain 3-2.

Petkovic, irked by an extended break allotted to Vandeweghe at the end of the second set, couldn't regain her focus.

She finished with 11 double faults, including two in the final game of the match.

She was then left to stand and watch as Vandeweghe celebrated with her teammates before belatedly shaking hands with her foe.

Even a meaningless doubles rubber played after the tie was decided was a disaster for Germany, as Laura Siegemund and Carina Witthoeft retired while trailing Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Shelby Rogers 4-1 because of Siegemund's left arm injury.

"Honestly, it's been a really tough week for us," said Petkovic, who took to Twitter on Sunday to elaborate on her feelings about the anthem mix-up.

"We were mainly (stunned) and did not know how we react. We feared the whole thing could fall back on us," Petkovic said.

"It is not the worst thing which happened to me in life. But it is the worst thing which happened to me in my Fed Cup life ever."

- Special moment ruined -

Germany captain Barbara Rittner said she had even pondered snatching the microphone from the singer.

"I could have cried, because it is always a special moment, which gives you goosebumps, when you hear the anthem being played," Rittner said.

The president of the US Tennis Association, Katrina Adams, immediately apologized to Rittner in person and promised to investigate.

"The USTA extends a sincere apology to the German Fed Cup team & fans 4 the outdated National Anthem," the US Tennis Association tweeted. "This mistake will not occur again."

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Sharapova handed Madrid Open wildcard

BARCELONA - Former world number one Maria Sharapova has been invited to play at the Madrid Open in May, which takes place less than two weeks after her 15-month doping ban expires, tournament organizers said on Wednesday.

The five-time grand slam winner has been given a wildcard for the event, which begins on May 5.

It is scheduled to be her second comeback tournament after her suspension for doping, with the Russian set to return to action at the Stuttgart Grand Prix in April.

"Sharapova requested an invitation to play... (She) is one of the best players of the last 15 years and also a past winner of our tournament," said event director Manolo Santana.

"In Madrid she always plays well and I'm sure she will come back to the courts highly motivated and hoping to do well."

Following a positive test for the drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, the Russian was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) cut the ban by nine months last October, allowing her to return from April 26.

Her case divided opinion in the sport.

The Florida-based Sharapova, who turns 30 on April 19, had called the ITF's original ruling "unfairly harsh" because she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules.

Meldonium was only added to the World Anti-Doping Agency list of banned substances at the start of 2016 after mounting evidence it boosted blood flow and enhanced performance.

CAS cut Sharapova's suspension but said she "bore some degree of fault" by relying on agent Max Eisenbud to check the banned list for changes and failing to ensure he had done so.

(Reporting by Richard Martin; editing by John Stonestreet and Ken Ferris)

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Murray, Kerber named ITF players of the year

LONDON - Briton Andy Murray and Germany's Angelique Kerber were named ITF World Champions on Tuesday, capping stellar years for the men's and women's world number ones.

Murray, whose brother Jamie was named doubles World Champion along with Brazil's Bruno Soares, won Wimbledon in July before becoming the first player to win two Olympic singles gold medals when he retained his crown in Rio de Janeiro in August.

He won nine titles in a milestone year that ended with him beating rival Novak Djokovic to win the ATP Tour Finals and seal the year-end rankings top spot.

"It means a lot to me to be named ITF World Champion. I have had such a memorable year," Murray said in a statement.

Kerber enjoyed an equally impressive season, winning the Australian and U.S. Open titles as well as an Olympic silver medal in Rio.

She becomes the first German to win the award since Steffi Graf claimed the last of her seven in 1996.

(Reporting by Toby Davis; Editing by Tony Jimenez)

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Sharapova to test comeback waters in Las Vegas exhibition

LOS ANGELES -- Maria Sharapova, targeting an April return to the WTA after the reduction of her doping ban, will try to start sharpening her game on Monday in the friendly confines of a charity event in Las Vegas.

The Russian superstar will play in the World Team Tennis Smash Hits event at Caesars Palace, which is hosted by Billie Jean King and Elton John for the benefit of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Her appearance alongside such stars as Martina Navratilova and Andy Roddick will delight her legion of fans, who remain faithful despite the controversy Sharapova stirred last week with her charge that the International Tennis Federation wanted to make an example of her in her doping case.

"I got a 24-month suspension, but they (the ITF) wanted four years for me," Sharapova said in an interview with US broadcaster PBS, a claim ITF officials denied.

In the same media offensive last week, Sharapova indicated to ESPN she wasn't convinced the drug meldonium, newly banned this year by the World Anti-Doping Agency, enhances performance.

"I think the one thing that I'd love to see -- and if anyone could show me -- is evidence on the performance-enhancing effect that it has," she told the US sports network.

Sharapova's initial 24-month ban for testing positive for meldonium was cut to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last Tuesday.

That CAS decision divided opinion among her peers.

"I can’t believe it actually," Australian Samantha Stosur said at a tournament in Hong Kong, calling it "remarkable" that Sharapova's ban was reduced on the argument she didn't realize a drug she'd long used had been added to the banned list.

Stosur, in comments reported in Tennis Magazine, said she thought most WTA players felt the same.

"So I wouldn’t imagine there’s a whole lot of support from the playing group," the Aussie said.

But five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova can likely expect a warm welcome in Las Vegas, where she'll arrive after a stop-off in Henderson, Nevada, to promote her candy company Sugarpova.

"Important to put this behind us for tennis and Maria," King tweeted after Sharapova's ban was reduced. "Look forward to her return to the WTA Tour@wta."

Navratilova added on Twitter: "A big price to pay for a big mistake, it will still be hard to come back for Maria. But we know how tough she is..."

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Sharapova banned for 2 years by ITF

LONDON - The career of Russian former world number one Maria Sharapova was in tatters on Wednesday after she was given a two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) following her positive test for the banned drug meldonium.

In a statement the ITF said the five-times grand slam champion's ban would be backdated to Jan. 26 this year, meaning her results and prize money from the Australian Open, where she reached the quarter-finals, would be cancelled out.

Sharapova, 29, said she would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), describing the punishment as "unfairly harsh".

She said an independent tribunal in London on May 18-19 had found that she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules.

A 33-page report of the tribunal's findings said: "The ITF accepts that the player did not engage in conduct that she knew constituted an antidoping rule violation," but it rejected her assertion that there was no "significant" fault on her part.

"She was the sole author of her own misfortune," it said.

On its website, the ITF said the ban, which could have been as long as four years, had been backdated due to Sharapova's "prompt admission" of taking the substance, and would end on midnight of Jan. 25, 2018.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) later issued a short statement saying it would review the decision before deciding whether to use its independent right of appeal to CAS.

Sharapova has regularly battled back from serious injuries during her glittering career but the two-year ban means she will not be eligible to play until after the 2018 Australian Open when she will be 30, and raises the question of whether she will ever play again.

"If it stands, then I think it will be difficult for her to come back at the same level," the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev, told TASS news agency, calling for the penalty to be reduced.

TIME AND RESOURCES

Meldonium was added to WADA's list of banned substances at the start of the year after mounting evidence that it boosted blood flow and enhanced athletic performance.

Around 180 athletes have tested positive for the drug, manufactured in Latvia and common throughout eastern Europe, since January.

Sharapova, the world's highest-paid female athlete, stunned the sporting world in March when she announced that she had tested positive for meldonium, a component of a product named Mildronate which she has taken since 2006 for health issues.

At the time Sharapova, the highest-profile tennis player to fail an anti-doping test, said she had made "a huge mistake" in failing to realise that continuing to take Mildronate would be a violation of the anti-doping code.

"The ITF spent tremendous amounts of time and resources trying to prove I intentionally violated the anti-doping rules and the tribunal concluded I did not," she said on Facebook.

The ITF had sought a four-year suspension but the tribunal rejected that, she said.

"While the tribunal concluded correctly that I did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules, I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension."

The tribunal found that Sharapova had taken Mildronate before each of her five matches at this year's Australian Open where she lost to Serena Williams.

It rejected Sharapova's argument that the ITF should have informed her that she and a number of other tennis players had tested positive for meldonium in 2015 before it was added to the banned list.

"CONCEALED"

The report also said that Sharapova had not made her use of Mildronate known to most of her team, including her coach, her trainer, her physiotherapist and her nutritionist, nor any of the doctors made available to players by the WTA.

Questioning why she continued taking Mildronate before matches, the report said: "In the tribunal's view the answer is clear. Whatever the position may have been in 2006, there was in 2016 no diagnosis and no therapeutic advice supporting the continuing use of Mildronate.

"If she had not concealed her use of Mildronate from the anti-doping authorities, members of her own support team and the doctors whom she consulted, but had sought advice, then the contravention would have been avoided," it said.

The ban will have an enormous impact on Sharapova's earning potential.

Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer cut its ties with Sharapova after the news of her doping violation while other sponsors such as Porsche distanced themselves from her.

Nike however, said on Wednesday they would continue to work with Sharapova.

"The ITF Tribunal has found that Maria did not intentionally break its rules," the sports apparel giant said in a statement. "Maria has always made her position clear, has apologised for her mistake and is now appealing the length of the ban."

Sharapova has 35 WTA singles titles and has won all four of the sport's grand slam titles.

Her career earnings amount to $36 million while her off-court earnings, according to Forbes, are around $200 million.

(Editing by Clare Fallon and Robin Pomeroy)

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Sharapova to face meldonium hearing in London

Maria Sharapova will attend an International Tennis Federation anti-doping hearing in London on Wednesday, British media reported, with the Russian facing a possible ban of up to four years for failing a drugs test at the Australian Open.

The five-times grand slam champion stunned the world in March when she said she had returned a positive test for meldonium, a Latvian-made heart medication which was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA's) banned list from Jan. 1.

Sharapova, the world's highest-paid sportswoman, claimed to have been taking meldonium on doctor's orders for 10 years and had failed to note that it had become a banned substance until hearing of her failed test at the first grand slam of the year.

She was provisionally suspended on March 12 pending the hearing.

Hundreds of athletes have tested positive for meldonium this year but WADA admitted last month that their bans might be overturned due to a lack of clear scientific information on how long the drug takes to be excreted from the body.

The drug's manufacturer said traces could remain in the body for several months depending on dosage, duration of treatment and sensitivity of testing methods.

The ITF's anti-doping program calls for a four-year suspension for a failed test but it can be reduced in various circumstances, such as for first-time offences or if the player shows no significant fault or negligence. (Writing by Ian Ransom; Editing by John O'Brien)

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Sharapova faces suspension after failing drug test

LOS ANGELES - Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, the highest-paid woman in sports, said on Monday that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open due to a substance she has been taking for 10 years for health issues.

The 28-year-old Sharapova, a five-time grand slam champion, will be provisionally suspended starting March 12, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said.

One of her biggest sponsors, Nike Inc., said it was suspending ties while the case is being investigated.



She is the seventh athlete in a month to test positive for meldonium, which is used to treat diabetes and low magnesium, and was only banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as of Jan. 1.

"I made a huge mistake. I let my fans down and I let the sport down," said Sharapova, a teenage tennis prodigy who became the third-youngest Wimbledon champion. "I take full responsibility for it."

"I know that with this I face consequences and I don't want to end my career this way. I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game," former world number one Sharapova told a news conference in a downtown Los Angeles hotel.

In its statement to put ties on hold that came just hours after the tennis star's announcement, Nike, the world's largest sportswear maker, said, "We are saddened and surprised by the news about Maria Sharapova."

The ITF's anti-doping program calls for a four-year suspension for a positive test, but that ban can be reduced in various circumstances, such as for first-time offences or if the player shows no significant fault or negligence.

If a player bears no fault or negligence, there is no suspension.

TAKEN MELDONIUM FOR 10 YEARS

According to Forbes, she earned $29.5 million in 2015, mostly from endorsements.

Sharapova said her family doctor had been giving her mildronate, which is also called meldonium, for 10 years after she frequently became sick, had irregular EKG results, a magnesium deficiency and a family history of diabetes.

"It is very important for you to understand that for 10 years this medicine was not on WADA's banned list and I had been legally taking the medicine. But on January the first, the rules have changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance."

WADA declined to comment until ITF issues a final decision.

Meldonium is used to treat chest pain and heart attacks among other conditions, but some researchers have linked it to increased athletic performance and endurance. It is listed by WADA among its prohibited metabolic modulators, along with insulin, and some researchers say it can also help recovery.

It is not approved in the United States but is available in Russia, Latvia and other countries in that region.

Over the past month, Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov, Russian figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova, Ethiopia-born athletes Endeshaw Negesse and Abeba Aregawi, and Ukraine biathletes Olga Abramova and Artem Tyshchenko have all tested positive for meldonium.

Sharapova is the most prominent tennis player to test positive for a banned substance in recent years.

Croatia's Marin Cilic was banned for nine months in 2013 after testing positive for a prohibited stimulant, though the suspension was cut to four months on appeal.

Former world number one Martina Hingis retired after receiving a two-year suspension for a positive cocaine test in 2007, though the Swiss denied taking the drug.

WTA SADDENED BY NEWS

Last year, the sport banned U.S. player Wayne Odesnik for 15 years after his second doping violation, testing positive for steroids and other banned substances.

Sharapova is the biggest name in sport to test positive since New York Yankees baseball slugger Alex Rodriguez was banned for a year in 2013 after using performance-enhancing drugs and American cyclist Lance Armstrong was banned for life from racing in 2012 after a U.S. Anti-Doping investigation.

Sharapova, one of the most popular figures in global sports, has long been a favourite with her sponsors. Cosmetics maker Avon Products Inc declined to comment on its endorsements.

Steve Simon, CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, said in a statement he was saddened to hear the news.

"Maria (Sharapova) is a leader and I have always known her to be a woman of great integrity," he said.

"Nevertheless, as Maria acknowledged, it is every player's responsibility to know what they put in their body and to know if it is permissible. The WTA will support the decisions reached through this process."

The news came a day after Sharapova's management team said she was going to make a "major announcement," which had many speculating that she was going to announce her retirement from professional tennis.

Sharapova, who has struggled with a series of injuries in recent years, has not competed since she lost to Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January.

Renowned for her never-say-die approach, a gritty baseline game and high-decibel shrieking, Sharapova at 17 became the first Russian woman to win Wimbledon when she beat Serena Williams 6-1 6-4 in the 2004 final.

That victory also made her the third-youngest Wimbledon champion, behind only Lottie Dod and Hingis, and the fourth-youngest grand slam winner in the open era after Hingis, Monica Seles and Tracy Austin.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Ax and Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Lisa Shumaker/Peter Rutherford/John O'Brien)

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