Richard Gasquet innocent in doping charges

Good news for Richard Gasquet, the former French number one men's tennis player.

He has been cleared of any claims of doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

While "justice has been done" as far as Gasquet is concerned, and he's "ready to turn the page and get on with his career", it seems as though the 23-year-old still has a few scores to settle and rumours to scotch.

Most notably the remarks made by a former fellow professional, Henri Leconte, who had been less than supportive when the story first broke, and rumours surrounding his relationship with the publishing, media, aerospace and retail mogul, Arnaud Lagardère.

On Thursday the CAS threw out an appeal made by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which had wanted him banned for two years for testing positive for cocaine.

Back in July a three-man independent ITF tribunal had accepted Gasquet's version of events surrounding "the kiss" that had led him to becoming "inadvertently contaminated" during a tournament in Miami; one in which he had been scheduled to play but had withdrawn from before the first round because of a shoulder injury.

The tribunal had given Gasquet a two month and 15 day suspension retroactively from May 1, effectively clearing him to return to competition.

But both the ITF and WADA had appealed to tribunal's findings, requesting that the player be banned from competition for two years. It was that appeal that the CAS rejected on Thursday, effectively supporting Gasquet's claims of having been an innocent victim in the affair.

Since the verdict, Gasquet has given interviews across the French media - an indication perhaps on how much interest there has been in this country in the story over the past eight months.

Appearing on national radio on Friday, Gasquet said he had appreciated the support he had received from people close to him and many other professionals on the tennis circuit, but that he would never forget the comments Leconte had made which had questioned his version of events.

"There weren't a lot of negative remarks thank goodness, and by far the most virulent reaction was from Leconte," he said.

I don't know why he said that. Perhaps he wanted to make himself sound interesting," he added.

"He's not the most refined or intelligent person we know in Paris.

"I won't forget, that's for sure."

Richard Gasquet règle ses comptes avec Henri Leconte
par Europe1fr

On Thursday just hours after the verdict, a relieved Gasquet appeared on the mid-evening television news magazine "Le Grand Journal" on Canal +, alongside Lagardère: a chance for the player to recount what life had been like since the story first broke, his plans for the future and for the two men to put paid to rumours that they had been lovers.

And about those rumours, after Lagardère had unequivocally denied there being any truth of a sexual relationship between the two men, Gasquet added, "Homosexual with Arnaud....Drugged and homosexual, definitely not."

It was all "in a kiss" - Gasquet returns to the tennis circuit

France's former number one tennis player, Richard Gasquet, has been given the all clear to rejoin the ATP tour after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Wednesday accepted his explanation of events surrounding his positive control for cocaine back in March.

It decided to impose a two month and 15 day suspension retroactively from May 1, effectively clearing him to return to competition immediately.

You might remember reading about Gasquet testing positive for cocaine during a tournament in Miami, one in which he didn't actually participate. He was scheduled to, but withdrew before his first round match because of a shoulder injury.

Instead the 23-year-old went partying to a nightclub, one in which the use of illegal recreational drugs - including cocaine - was well known, and where according to Gasquet, he had been "inadvertently contaminated" while kissing a girl.

He maintained his innocence at a hearing of the ITF's three-man independent anti-doping tribunal in London at the end of June. And on Wednesday the panel delivered its decision, accepting that Gasquet's version of how cocaine traces had been found in his urine was "more plausible than not" and it had "found the player to be a truthful and honest witness, and a man of integrity".

The ruling was also relatively lenient one. The ITF could have handed down a two-year suspension as it did most notably to Martina Hingis in 2007 after she tested positive for cocaine; a decision which led the former women's world number one to announce her retirement.

In reality Gasquet's punishment is more along the lines of one given in 1995 to the former top-ranked Swedish player Mats Wilander and his Czech doubles partner, Karel Novacek, who tested positive for cocaine at the French Open but denied deliberately using it. They were both suspended for three months.

"Given the unique characteristics and likely 'exceptional' circumstances of this case, it would have been unjust and disproportionate to have imposed a 12-month ban on Gasquet," read the statement issued by the ITF on Wednesday.

And that was a decision greeted with relief by the national technical director of the French tennis federation, Patrice Dominguez.

"Richard has been punished but within reason," he said.

"Of course we were concerned because there had been the risk of him being banned for two years, but the tribunal decided that would be have been disproportionate," he continued.

"It's excellent news and will allow him to return to his highest level of play."

By deciding to suspend him for a limited period from May 1, Gasquet is effectively eligible to return to the ATP tour immediately and in particular begin preparations for the US Open, the final Grand slam tournament of the year which begins at the end of August.

He has already missed both the French Open and Wimbledon.

Gasquet of course is happy that he'll be able to play once again and that his name has been cleared, but for him the past couple of months haven't been easy.

"It has been intense suffering for the past two and a half months for me, and it was terrible not to be able to play either the French Open or Wimbledon," he told national radio.

"My name has been dragged through the mud in the media but I thank all of those who have supported me throughout the whole experience."

Ah yes, it really was "all in a kiss."

Richard Gasquet: Ma suspension "a été une souffrance atroce"
by Europe1fr

Mathieu Montcourt - death of a tennisman

His name probably isn't one that is on the lips of many a sports fans, but on Tuesday, French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt made the headlines for the saddest of reasons.

The body of the 24-year-old was found in front of his apartment in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt in the early hours of the morning, and police are investigating the circumstances of his death.

Initial reports suggest that Montcourt died of a pulmonary embolism.

According to police the body of the 24-year-old was found in the early hours of Tuesday morning by his girlfriend on the staircase of the apartment block in which he lived.

An autopsy is due to be held on Wednesday to discover the exact causes of the player's early death.

Montcourt turned professional in 2002 and although his wasn't a glittering career on a par with his better-known French contemporaries such as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils or Gilles Simon for example, Montcourt was placed 119th in the world in the latest rankings released on Monday.

More regularly seen on the Challenge tour in Europe, his most recent appearance in a Grand Slam tournament was in the French Open at Roland Garros in June, where he made it through to the second round.

Perhaps part of the explanation for Montcourt's failure to progress more quickly in the rankings was that a cloud had been hanging over his career for several months.

In August last year he was fined and suspended for eight weeks by the ATP for betting on tennis matches back in 2005.

He took the case to appeal and in May this year the Lausanne-based Court of arbitration for sport reduced the suspension to six weeks.

Interviewed on national radio, Michael Llodra, fellow French tennis professional and a close friend of Montcourt on the professional circuit, expressed his shock.

'It's horrible, tragic," he said.

"I've been upset ever since I heard the news. To go like that at 24 years of age is terrible."

Roland Garros - it's over before it has begun for Gasquet

France’s Richard Gasquet will be missing from this year’s draw for the French Open at Roland Garros, which begins on May 24.

Nope, Not because of injury, which plagues many players on the professional tennis circuit - but drugs - or cocaine to be more precise.

On Monday the French tennis federation confirmed that Gasquet would be suspended from this year’s tournament - one of the four Grand Slam events in the tennis calendar.

The signs of likely problems for Gasquet first broke on Saturday when the French daily sports paper L’Equipe reported that he had tested positive for cocaine back in March in Miami.

And a day later the 22-year old confirmed the rumours,

"The result of the B sample test I took at the end of March during the Miami tournament in which I didn’t participate, confirmed the positive result of the A sample test taken on the same day," he said.

"Given the complexity of the case, I’m in the process of gathering all the evidence to prove my innocence before fixing a more appropriate time to explain myself," he added, admitting that he had been out partying one evening during the Miami tournament.

There is however a complication in Gasquet’s case, aside that is from the wider implications that cocaine use is illegal.

Under purely anti-doping regulations it’s only "forbidden" if it’s being used as a performance-enhancing drug or stimulant during competition.

Gasquet tested positive for cocaine during a tournament in which he didn’t actually participate. He was scheduled to, but withdrew before his first round match because of a shoulder injury.

The news came as a bombshell to many in the French tennis world with veteran player, Fabrice Santoro, expressing his shock on national television.

"I’ve known Richard since he was a young boy," he said.

"I know how he lives, we see each other a lot on the circuit and it’s completely out of character," he added.

Former French professional player, Henri Leconte, was perhaps more forthcoming when questioned for his reaction.

"Unfortunately I think he has to accept the consequences, he said.

"Even if you say ’oh it was like that for one evening’ - he’s an example for French tennis."

Currently 21st in the ATP rankings, Gasquet has made it as high as number seven, and with five career titles to his credit and a losing semi-finalist at Wimbledon back in 2007, he has finished as the top-ranked French tennis player in three of the past four seasons.

Gasquet’s fate will be sealed within the next two months when he is expected to appear before an anti-doping tribunal.

The maximum penalty is a two-year suspension, which could effectively put an end to his playing career in much the same way it did to that of a former women’s world number one, Martina Hingis, back in 2007 when she faced similar allegations.