WTA News and Gossip 2018

[kskate2]

No..it was Serena..

AP, in this post he's talking about Genie playing qualies…

She is playing #2 seed in the last round. But, her opponent is not a up and coming player, but a 28 year old journeywoman and so Genie has a very good chance.

 

[the AntiPusher]

AP, in this post he's talking about Genie playing qualies…

My baad..I got it crossed..thanks GSM and KS

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The quals are over. #1 and #2 seeds were eliminated.

Genie, Vera and M. Barthel won. Nicole Gibbs lost.

 

[Hoergren]

 

[GameSetAndMath]

18 tear old Claire Liu is the Girl's champion last year. As per the tradition, she got a wild card into the quals this year and she made it to the MD and that too by beating Nicole Gibbs in the last round.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Any news about Heather (who was heroic against Serena few years ago). I don't see her playing even in the tourneys in GB.

 

[the AntiPusher]

The quals are over. #1 and #2 seeds were eliminated.

Genie, Vera and M. Barthel won. Nicole Gibbs lost.

Miss Drama Z is making her way back into the fold

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Serena refused to undergo test on July 14th when an USADA agent showed up at her house. Apparently, there was a standoff between the agent and Serena and in the end agent left without accomplishing his mission. Serena is complaining that she is being unfairly tested a lot and targeted. Actually, it was completely within the current policy of USADA to target players as they deem fit and to show up unannounced for testing. It looks like Serena pulled strings by calling the CEO of WTA to get away with it.

This does not bode well especially coming after a previous incident involving panic room.

p.s. Isabelle posted this somewhere and it appears that moderators deleted it as conspiracy theory. It is not conspiracy theory.

 

[10isfan]

Not a smart move by Serena. She should have agreed to be tested. Looking guilty to her detractors.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Not a smart move by Serena. She should have agreed to be tested. Looking guilty to her detractors.

Well, it would have been easy to get tested and come out clear right, if there is nothing to hide. The question is why did not she choose to do it.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Funny rule: "Three missed tests in a 12-month period count as a doping violation."

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Here is the original article on the recent Serena Drug Incident published in Deadspin . I don't know whichever way you look it, it looks dicey. I just don't trust WTA. We all know that they officially issued talking points to players as to what they should say when press asks them about Meldopova. WTA has too much vested interests. WTA should not even come between players and the testing authorities. But, here is a case of a top player calling WTA chief to pull strings.

Given that the whole thing got revealed by a fellow passenger in an airplane, you can be rest assured that no one is trying to deliberately malign Serena with some vested motives. This is clearly a case of everybody (player, WTA, USADA) coming together in the end in order to "promote the interests of the game".

 

[kskate2]

I'm confused. Did this happen in June 2016 or June 2018. The other article makes reference to both dates.

 

[kskate2]

Serena refused to undergo test on July 14th when an USADA agent showed up at her house. Apparently, there was a standoff between the agent and Serena and in the end agent left without accomplishing his mission. Serena is complaining that she is being unfairly tested a lot and targeted. Actually, it was completely within the current policy of USADA to target players as they deem fit and to show up unannounced for testing. It looks like Serena pulled strings by calling the CEO of WTA to get away with it.

This does not bode well especially coming after a previous incident involving panic room.

p.s. Isabelle posted this somewhere and it appears that moderators deleted it as conspiracy theory. It is not conspiracy theory.

It's a conspiracy theory if it's not backed up by proof unlike yours. She can't make adhoc statements like that w/o providing a source and she knows it.

 

[kskate2]

Not a smart move by Serena. She should have agreed to be tested. Looking guilty to her detractors.

I agree. She should have taken the test and then complained about unfair targeting afterward. It is very peculiar that she's tested more than other US players. She's been tested 5 times already this year and she just came back to the tour in Feb at Fed Cup.

 

[isabelle]

It's a conspiracy theory if it's not backed up by proof unlike yours. She can't make adhoc statements like that w/o providing a source and she knows it.

it was written in l'Equipe....not really a conspiracy's paper....

 

[kskate2]

it was written in l'Equipe....not really a conspiracy's paper....

It's not about it being a conspiracy paper. You can't make claims like you stated without citing a source. Something that's been talked about on this site for years. If you notice GSM quoted 2 sources for his post. All you had to do was provide one.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I'm confused. Did this happen in June 2016 or June 2018. The other article makes reference to both dates.

This happened in June 2018. In June 2016, the Russian Hackers revealed the drugs that Serena was taking. While those were prohibited ones, Serena had a TUE for them. That was the reference to 2016. In 2016, nobody paid a hoot for this as it was very clear that it was motivated by Russian Fans of Meldopova so that she could potentially be allowed to play in Olympics. The article says that given that the current revelation is made by a fellow passenger accidentally overhearing, it is very clear there is no ulterior motive here. It is not that someone who does not like or hate Serena revealed it. Just to articulate this point, they made reference to 2016 situation. But, this incident happened on 14th June 2018 specifically.

Given that there is a prior history of "panic room incident", I am getting more and more skeptical.

 

[kskate2]

@GameSetAndMath For sure, it doesn't look good. I wonder what her reply will be when she's asked about it in a presser

 

[GameSetAndMath]

@GameSetAndMath For sure, it doesn't look good. I wonder what her reply will be when she's asked about it in a presser

She has so much time to prepare answers and so she will come up with something. Also, the press won't be as hard on her as they should be.