Now that the dust has somewhat started to settle after Martina Hingis’ media bombshell yesterday, I think it is time to take a look at six things that just don’t make sense about this whole affair.
1. Just because the tests showed evidence of cocaine, it does not mean that Martina Hingis is a cocaine addict.
Remember the whole Greg Rusedski mess a few years ago? Critics all over the world were calling poor Greg a cheat and worse because “evidences” of nandralone were found in his body. He maintained his innocence from the start, and lo and behold, four months later he was cleared of any wrong-doing.
Now, I’m definitely not saying that Hingis received cocaine accidentally from supplements provided to her by the Tour, but it does remind us to make sure that the allegations are 100% correct, before labeling someone as a cheat or a doper. Hingis and her legal staff are maintaining that there are “various inconsistencies” with the samples referenced, so it will be interesting to see what facts come to light in the next few months or years.
2. In typical Hingis fashion, she broke the news on her own terms.
Not only did this spare us the “Oh, I’m not guilty, but I accidentally drank tainted gatorade routine”, but it does lend credibility to her claims of innocence. Like one of On the Baseline’s commenters (pov) said on a previous post, Hingis made the choice to go public.
3. What in the world is going on between the ITF, the WTA Tour, and the Anti-Doping program?
This looks like the classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, making this more of a media firestorm than it should be. Larry Scott’s statement yesterday was supposed to be damage control, but it fanned only the flames.
I love this part: “The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has not received any official information regarding the positive doping test result referred to by Martina Hingis in her press conference today. . .”
Call me crazy, but I would have thought that the first people to hear about this situation after Hingis would have been the Tour. Hingis’ agent, Mario Widmer, has said that Martina found out about the test in mid-September, making it possible that she even competed on the Tour after the investigation found evidence of doping.
4. Why isn’t Martina planning on fighting the allegations?
Martina Hingis was never a person to shy away from picking a fight when it came to her words, but now, it looks as if she just wants to pack her bags and return home in peace. Will she fight the charges or just hope that in a few months time, she’ll be yesterday’s news? The Martina who nearly started the tennis equivalent of WWIII over her comments about the Williams sisters or Amelie Mauresmo was uncharacteristically subdued and tamed yesterday.
5. Why should this threaten her Hall of Fame status?
A week ago, I would have said that Martina Hingis would be the easiest nominee into the HOF since Steffi Graf. Who would dare to resist voting in a fifteen-time Grand Slam champion, with number one credentials in singles and doubles? But now, people have started weighing Hingis’ record in one hand and these allegations in the other. Frankly, this should have no influence on her entry. If she did use cocaine, it was around the time-frame of Wimbledon 2007 – a decade removed from her glory days at the top of the world.
6. The mainstream media holds tennis to a different standard than other sports.
Five minutes after news of Hingis’ press conference broke, I visited MSNBC.com and was floored to see an image of Martina not only on the front page, but right at the top of the content. Ordinarily, when it comes to good news, an American would have to win Roland Garros while playing with a broken leg to see herself so prominently in a non-sport media outlet.
Folks, I’m not trying to diminish or justify Hingis’ use of cocaine, but is this really worth the firestorm that has ensued? Drug use is wrong, despite your status as a millionaire tennis queen or just an average Joe on the street. But, when it comes to tennis, the majority of the time when the sport makes big headlines it is because something is wrong. Take the WTA Tour’s recent match-fixing “scandal” as an example. Most average tennis fans had not even heard of Tatiana Poutchek or Mariya Koryttseva, but the whole world heard about it when the media screamed foul play across the headlines.
From the looks of things now, you would have thought Hingis was running an underground animal fighting cartel from her Swiss backyard or paid somebody to whack Venus or Serena in the shins so she could win Wimbledon.
Like everyone else commenting yesterday, I can’t believe Hingis is a druggie. And even if: shouldn’t there be a distinction between drugs and doping?
What makes me really angry is that with athletes drugs are bad bad bad, whereas with actors and pop/rockstars the media portrays durg abuse not only as common but EXPECTED. Read any gossip on Britney, Amy Winehouse, James Blunt (in Rolling Stone for example)… recently? Such a “star” not on drugs is not normal, while a high-profile athlete can’t even have a glass of wine???
Did Hingis take cocaine at some pre-Wimby party (was probably abundant for all the top models etc who grace these kind of parties and she mistook it for sugar…)? Possible, who knows? Was it wrong? Yes! Should she be condemned? Only if guilty. Should this cast a shadow over her achievements? Definitely no!
Her comeback and wins last year were definitely amazing and her play is still admirable!
Y’know point 3 is . .yeah really puzzling to put in mildly. I mean someone tests positive for coke at Wimbledon and as of yesterday the WTA still didn’t know?
And 6 Agreed. Except I see nothing wrong with “drug use.”
Let’s say she did snort a line or two at a party a few days before Wimbledon. Personally I think that’s fine. I really don’t see the big deal. Now if she was snorting during a tournament then that would be something different. And even then . .what if someone has a shot of alcohol a few hours before a game. Or takes Kava?
I mean I bet there are quite a few players that inhale a little marijuana from time to time.
Alsacienne, the world holds athletes to a higher standard than actors, singers, or any other public figure.
The way I see it, the standards should be the same for anyone in the public eye.
But, I do see your point about the difference between drug use and doping. It’s a fine line, and I certainly would not want to be the person responsible for enforcing it. This is one reason why the Tour bans differently for first-offenders, compared to a repeat offender.
Great post Aaress!
To answer your qustion “…is this really worth the firestorm that ensued?”, a resouding yes (maybe more)! And it’s so funny that you would ask that question after your and your media friends’ over-the-top scrutiny of Serena Williams after her loss to Justine Henin at the US Open. It’s ABSURD that you have sympathy for Hingis (an accused coke head) and virtually threw Serena under the bus after her disappointing loss. That alone makes this post lose all credibility.
Sorry to get off topic, I just had to point that out to everybody. Carry on.
Ahh Will – make up your mind. Was this a great post or a post with no credibility?
I’m not sure how you think I’m being sympathetic to Hingis. From the start of this mess, I’ve been adamant that if she is found guilty by a doping tribunal, she needs to face the consequences of her crime. My point was that we have seen NO official evidence, in fact, the WTA Tour had not even seen anything official as of Thursday.
I just think we need to hold off on the proverbial necktie party until she has been proven guilty. In fact, were it not for Martina’s announcement, this news might not have been broken until a later date.
Wow – one post about Serena’s bad sportsmanship at the US Open and I get accused of throwing her under a bus. It has only been three days since Hingis and I’ve done four posts on her alleged crimes. Can’t see why that makes you think I’m being soft on her.
When I heard about this my first thought was nah Martina would do it she’s the last person you would expect to do drugs. Then I got on the net and read her statement, I personally think it was admission of guilt.
If she is an innocent as she says she why not fight the charges to clear her name. Then reading the statement and leaving the press conference is another sign she may have done, again if she is as innocent as she says is then why didn’t she try and get the message across via answering a few questions from the media.
At the end of the day Martina is innocent until proven guilty but as the ITF bylaws stand the only person who may every know if Martina is innocent or guilty is Martina herself as the facts many never be made public.
I have still never heard of Mariya Koryttseva.
It was a great post Aaress! I always appreciate your in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding the women’s game.
It’s just that after I read the post, I started to think that no one is really accusing Martina of any wrongdoing. She broke the news! We’re just waiting to see what happens. So it just didn’t seem necessary to have a post telling us don’t be quick to judge when we aren’t really judging her. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent.
And you really threw Serena under the bus that day! It was a terrible day to be a fan of your blog and a Serena fan.
i agree with will. the whole tone of your Serena post was verging on agressive. with hingis you’re pointing out things that dont add up, like you’re trying to prove her innocence or something. People keep saying that no one as “professional” as Hingis would take coke, but the comments she used to make about Venus, Serena and Amelie were far from professional, and i dont think she is morally above taking drugs. i do however, think she should be innocent until proven guilty and has an amazing legacy, which deserves to reamin untarnished.
Will – point taken, thanks.
Venusfan- Professionalism has nothing to do with the situation and like you said, I don’t believe anyone is “morally above” taking drugs. We all have an inherent sin nature, making myself and everyone else on earth morally capable of doing just about anything.
As for my opinion, I’m not leaning one way or the other when it comes to Hingis’ situation. It’s not my job or responsibility to clear her name, make her look innocent, or prove that she is guilty. Unfortunately, regardless of her guilt or innocence, her reputation and legacy has been tarnished.
All I would like to know is the truth.
I do think MH is guilty of snorting a line of coke. Hey: it’s the fast lane, you know?
I applaud her for doing the press conference.
Of course, she denies. Of course: they ALL do, because if you deny (Tour de France cyclist Greg Landis, anybody?) you sow doubt.
It’s all part of the game.
4 points:
1) Would this scandal be such an attention grabber if the player were a male? It is possible that the female players are held up to a higher moral standard.
2) This type of scandal just doesn’t happen in professional tennis, or at least no one has been caught. Tennis players are held up to a higher standard than other athletes. It’s not really about athletes being held up to a higher standard then actors/models. Athletes are understandably given mandatory/random drug testing, since drugs can give them an unfair adtantage. Actors/models don’t face this in their jobs.
3) I recall reading that John McEnroe did quite a bit if “experimenting” in his prime, but was never caught. Also, I don’t think mandatory drug testing even existed in the 1970’s, so he wouldn’t have faced this situation.
4) We will probably never know the truth about Martina’s innocence or guilt, but I agree – her reputation is tarnished. But, if she truly has a drug problem, her reputation will be the least of her worries.
Wilander and Novacek (remember them?) were caught with coke in their system.
According to ex-wife Tatum McEnroe did coke and weed. He admitted that much in his autobiography.
You don’t have to have a drug problem to do coke. For some people is just a party thing.
I drink a glass of wine before and during dinner, but I surely don’t have a drinking problem.
Former top-ranked player Mats Wilander and Karel Novacek had positive tests for cocaine at the 1995 French Open. Both were banned for three months and ordered to return prize money and forfeit rankings points.
(this from the FOX NEWS website, illustrating there is nothing new here)
Paula: Excellent thoughts as always.
I don’t think that this would have been a lesser story if it was about a male player. I think in this case, it was because this type of situation has never happened to a player of Hingis’ stature in the modern era of drug testing.
Too bad about #4 – Several people have actually mentioned that the ITF may not even release the findings publicly from the drug tests. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Renee: Good point – if Hingis is found guilty, the ban would probably not exceed two years as this is her first offense.
“Threw Serena under the bus”?? Not really.
It wasn’t an issue where *maybe* Serena acted a certain way, or said certain things, and one was jumping to conclusions. She was being assessed solely on her very public behavior.