Why the Australian Open can’t escape the latest doping row

Tennis has a drug problem that it doesn’t want to talk about, but with the Australian Open around the corner doping is all anyone will be talking about for the next two weeks, writes JULIAN LINDEN.

Tennis has a drug problem that it doesn’t want to talk about.

Which is probably wishful thinking right now, because for the next two weeks, doping is going to be on everyone’s lips at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

As hard as they might try to change the topic, the sport’s officials just can’t stop the question that keeps getting asked: is tennis a dirty sport?

For the most part, tennis is relatively clean, with strict policies in place for testing players and imposing sanctions when required.

But recent events have raised doubts about just how fair the system is and whether top players are being treated differently to everyone else after Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Poland’s Iga Swiatek both got off lightly after testing positive for banned substances.

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Poland's Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month ban after testing positive for a banned heart drug she said she ingested unintentionally

As the No. 1 ranked players in the world in the men’s and women’s games, news of their adverse test findings sent the game into a spin, even though both have denied any wrongdoing and have subsequently been cleared to play at the Australian Open.

While there’s no evidence to back up claims of double standards, the concern is whether the two stars were given preferential treatment because of their status and wealth, enabling them to hire the best lawyers.

The defending Australian Open champion, Sinner managed to avoid a ban altogether after he successfully argued that his two failed tests for the steroid clostebol were caused by a contaminated cream his now former physiotherapist used on him.

The World Anti-Doping Agency is among the sceptics, and has appealed the case findings to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Swiatek accepted a month-one ban - which she served between grand slams - after testing positive for trimetazidine, the banned heart drug better known as TMZ. She convinced authorities she had ingested the substance unintentionally after taking medication for jet lag and sleep issues.

After retiring from tennis, Andre Agassi admitted he used a banned drug and lied to escape a ban

The real problem for tennis officials are the optics.

Other sports have rarely shown the same leniency to athletes who have tested positive for banned substances, instead applying the strict liability rule.

This is why Australian swimmer Shayna Jack still served a two-year ban after testing positive to ligandrol, even though she was able to prove it was unintentional.

And it’s why Russian star figure skater Kamila Valieva was given a four-year ban after testing positive for TMZ even though she was just 15 and claimed the medication belonged to her grandfather.

Tennis has itself often applied the same tough principle of strict liability.

Just last month, Australian doubles player Max Purcell was automatically suspended after he dobbed himself in for receiving a saline infusion above the legally allowed limit.

Disregarding the presumption of innocence and the complexity of the rules, some past and present players have queried the apparent inconsistency of the way sanctions are applied, with Nick Kyrgios describing the spate of cases as “disgusting” and a “horrible look” for the sport.

“No one wants to speak about it,” Kyrgios said. “It’s actually awful and it’s not okay. I know that people don’t like it when I just speak out about things, be honest about things.”

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open

Purcell’s doubles partner Jordan Thompson said he was baffled by the penalty given to his Australian team mate.

“To get suspended for that, when there are other people who are doing far worse and sometimes just get a slap on the wrist, a bit of a joke, I think,” Thompson said.

“When you look at guys testing positive, then you have Max taking too much in an IV bag, it’s a head-scratcher.”

Tennis is not alone in facing awkward questions about drug use.

In every sport, where there’s money at stake, the scourge of doping is never far away, but tennis is considered high risk because the money on offer is huge and it’s a sport where power and endurance are key requirements.

The whispers just never go away but will be louder this year because Sinner is just the latest Australian Open champion to have been implicated in doping.

Martina Hingis was banned for two years for testing positive for cocaine

* Four-time Australian Open champion Andre Agassi was initially given a three month ban in the late 1990s after testing positive for methamphetamine. Agassi never actually served the ban after blaming the test result on a spiked drink, which he later admitted in his autobiography was untrue.

* Petr Korda, the 1998 champion, tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone at Wimbledon later that same year. He was allowed to continue competing before being banned for 12 months from September 1999, but he retired before the suspension kicked in.

* Martina Hingis, who won three straight Australian Open titles from 1997-1999, was given a two-year ban in 2008 after testing positive for cocaine, which she denied using.

* Maria Sharapova, the 2008 champion at Melbourne Park, tested positive for meldonium while playing the 2016 Australian Open. She received a reduced 15-month ban after it was ruled unintentional.

Originally published as Why the Australian Open can’t escape the latest doping row