Sharapova: Beauty or the Beast?

An all-time tennis beauty may have shown a bit of her beastly side recently.

The tennis world, however, must show a bit of understanding towards Maria Sharapova after her return from a drugs ban.

What she has done cannot be condoned. But she has lost 15 months of her career for taking the banned drug meldonium as punishment.

That is a large chunk considering the Russian is now 29 and at her peak.

Whether it was good or just plain smart, Sharapova confessed to taking the drug before the crisis deepened.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) banned her initially for two years and then reduced it on her appeal.

Sharapova claimed she had been taking the drug, manufactured in Latvia, for 10 years before its ban on January 1, 2016, for treating magnesium deficiency and a family history of diabetes.

She had said she was unaware of the ban but came out in the open once the results of the tests were revealed.

Fair enough. She paid for her mistake in a big way and has been given the green light by the ITF to resume her career.

However, Canadian Eugenie Bouchard thought otherwise. She called the Russian a cheat and went on to beat her at the Madrid Open in what was termed as a “grudge match”.

Bouchard may find it difficult to adjust to the fact that her one-time idol now had a black mark against her name.

She is young and disappointed. But she will realise that Sharapova got punished for what she did and had paid the price.

Life bans are no answers to such problems unless it is of great magnitude. The list of banned drugs keeps growing and sometimes it is difficult to keep track.

The World Ant-Doping Agency (WADA) has been diligently pursuing performance enhancement drugs and substances.

Players and coaches have been educated and made aware of what drugs are banned through regular announcements and emails.

Sharapova received five emails over meldonium but she claimed she had not seen them.

May be she was feigning ignorance as she is very meticulous in everything.  But she deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Another possible disadvantage which Sharapova has is that she has great looks and a fit body which makes her a target for jealousy.

Her appearance has also made her a favourite with the fans. Any Sharapova match is guaranteed to increase spectator participation.

There have been so many sportspersons who have been named and shamed for the use of drugs. Some like US cyclist Lance Armstrong built a career by using drugs.

Critics will point out that Sharapova’s performance was enhanced by meldonium as she was taking it over the last 10 years.

The point is it wasn’t banned then. So she was within her right to take it.

Forgive her for she confessed. The drug black mark will be a permanent scar on her anyway. She will have to live that down for the rest of her life.

However, she has served her time and must be helped to rebuild her career.

Bouchard may be preening at the moment that she beat her idol and also got support from former tennis stars. But she will realise later that everybody makes mistakes in life and have to pay for it.

Even criminals get a second chance in life. Bouchard should put her disappointment behind and help Sharapova to go through this tough period in life. That would be a great act to a woman who was her idol.

Babu Kalyanpur
Latest posts by Babu Kalyanpur (see all)