Is the pressure on tennis players really so crushing?
Tennis is supposed to be a noble sport. One where sportsmanlike behavior comes above all. And it does look like that all players (with a few exceptions – as happens in every sport) respect the notion. So how is it that the cases of doping and buckling under pressure keep showing up in greater numbers? Instances and happenstances that undermine the trust of the players and the top Asian and European bookmakers to the integrity that the sport is supposed to represent?
Latest incident of doping in tennis
The details of the incident have not been made public yet and it is a story that already goes back to 2022. Former number 1 of the WTA table Simona Halep from Romania, received a provisional suspension for failing the imperative relevant test last August during the U.S. Open. On Sep 13, a «second and separate», as ITIA put it, charge for irregularities on her Biological Passport was added, extending her ban for 4 years (until Oct 06, 2026), as the additional charge is considered as her second offense.
Halep will appeal the decision based on the fact that the roxadustat (the substance that she is accused of using) is actually permitted in the European Union for medical purposes. However, it is doubtful that she will be vindicated. Maria Sharapova used the same reasoning when she was discovered using meldonium, a substance that is supposed to treat heart disease. Her appeal was also rejected and she was banned for 2 years.
But it is not just doping
When a player of the caliber of Naomi Osaka makes a statement that winning does no longer make her happy and that she has been fighting depression since 2018, it should not be taken as a simple personal problem. She had the guts to admit it but she is not the only one suffering from the affliction. The 15,000-dollar fine that she paid for not participating to a press conference, didn’t do anything to rectify the situation. In fact, it could be argued that it made it worse.
For similar reasons, the best female Italian player at this time, Martina Trevisan, took a hiatus for several years. An interruption that has probably hurt her career severely. An increasing number of other cases on both doping and mental issues could be added to this discussion. So, the question that needs to be answered is a rather important one: is the pressure on tennis players so great that they are buckling under?
Doping in tennis and mental problems. Why?
It is not a new problem. On every professional sport, the athletes who show the most potential for the top, will go under severe pressure to succeed. Pressure from their sponsors who need to see a return of their investment, pressure from their own ambitions, pressure from the people of the countries they represent to make them proud, and the list can go on. Some people can handle it, some others cannot. But is it justified? Does it all have to be about money and making it to the top? Or is it that doping in tennis has an even deeper root problem that is not associated with pressure? Could it be that the ever-increasing demands on speed and stamina are starting to take their toll?
Those are questions that must be answered by the experts. And they need to come sooner rather than later, otherwise, there will be an increased number of incidents. Meanwhile, it’s still a solid sport to bet on and the matches are getting increasingly interesting and exciting. It’s still a quite worthy endeavor to open a betting account via agent and make a profit.