Was shocked along with the rest of the world when hearing of Maria Sharapova's failed drug test at this year's Aus Open. I hope that her suspension reflects an error borne of ignorance rather than a finding of deliberate attempts at deriving advantage.
I like watching Maria play - don't like listening to her screaming - but her shot making is delightful and she also displays a fighting spirit when down in matches. Her absence will be a big loss to the WTA Tour.
However she must do her time.
Maria's response to the massive personal and career crisis was dignified and to her credit she carried complete responsibility for the mistake. Her apology to fans and to tennis in general appeared heartfelt.
Enter the haters, surprisingly at the head of the pack former star Jennifer Capriati whose Twitter attack was a hateful jealous reaction - I was happy for Capriati when she won Aus Opens which I saw live in Melbourne but to expect Maria to lose titles won before the drug was banned is to disappointingly second guess the findings of a case yet to be heard. Jennifer needs to be more selective in her commentary. Already Maria is suspended pending the decision of the case.
Martina Navratilova was the wise voice from the tennis world calling for individual judgements to wait until all the facts are known and the case formally prosecuted.
Hopefully the decision will be a reasonable suspension enabling a return to tennis for a repentant Sharapova.
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