Richard Gasquet Suspended Will Miss French Open
Gasquet claims innocence, stating that an independent test that he had conducting on May 7th using a hair sample was negative and that he plans to fight to suspension. The 22-year old player was tested at the Sony Ericsson Open in Florida.
Gasquet is currently 14-8, and his last tournament was the ATP Tournament in Rome on April 30th. He made it to the 2007 Wimbledon Semi-Finals before losing to Roger Federer and has five ATP titles and a total of $4.1 million dollars in prize money over the last seven years of his professional career.
The ITF plans to hold a tribunal over the matter sometime in the next sixty days, but Gasquet will be suspended the rest of the season, according to officials. ITF Spokesperson Neil Robinson said, “We’re now assembling an anti-doping tribunal. The ideal time frame is within 60 days, but people have to fly in from all over the world for it.”
The last player to test positive for cocaine was Martina Hingis who was tested positive after losing at Wimbledon in 2007. She was banned for two years and according to the ITF, Gasquet could face the same fate if found guilty.
Tags: Richard Gasquet, French Open, ATP Tournament, Roger Federer, Wimbledon Posted: 12th May 2009 News » Richard Gasquet Suspended Will Miss French Open |
Other Sports
|