Why doesn't the ITF test for CERA?

[NamRanger]

Originally Posted by edmondsm

IDK, would top tennis players really risk their health with this drug? Tennis is NOT an endurance sport, and EPO is dangerous, really bad for your heart. Not saying that they shouldn't test for it, I just don't think a drug like this would be a big problem in tennis.

Having said that, don't they test for old-school EPO? I don't get why they wouldn't test for CERA if they felt it necessary to test for the drug's predecessors.

EPO would help players train harder and get more stamina. It's not necessarily a huge advantage, but because it is so hard to detect it's a good drug to use.

[coloskier]

Originally Posted by edmondsm

IDK, would top tennis players really risk their health with this drug? Tennis is NOT an endurance sport, and EPO is dangerous, really bad for your heart. Not saying that they shouldn't test for it, I just don't think a drug like this would be a big problem in tennis.

Having said that, don't they test for old-school EPO? I don't get why they wouldn't test for CERA if they felt it necessary to test for the drug's predecessors.

If tennis was not an endurance sport, Nadal would never win. He wins because he outruns and outlasts his opponents as much as he wins due to his forehand. In fact, most pushers would never win, because they depend on outlasting an opponent. Same goes for most clay court specialists. Fatigue is more of a factor on clay than on any other surface. You don't hear much about non clay court specialists failing drug tests, because they rarely take "endurance enhancers". Most of the guys failing drug tests are clay court specialists.

[drakulie]

Hmmmmm, even more evidence of what a joke the testing policy is.

BTW, Tennis is most definitely a "stamina sport" especially for a player like, Nadal and most clay-court specialist.

[edmondsm]

Originally Posted by coloskier

If tennis was not an endurance sport, Nadal would never win. He wins because he outruns and outlasts his opponents as much as he wins due to his forehand. In fact, most pushers would never win, because they depend on outlasting an opponent. Same goes for most clay court specialists. Fatigue is more of a factor on clay than on any other surface. You don't hear much about non clay court specialists failing drug tests, because they rarely take "endurance enhancers". Most of the guys failing drug tests are clay court specialists.

I didn't say that there was no endurance aspect to tennis, but tennis is not an "endurance sport" like marathoning, cycling, etc. I stand by that. Point being, the risk vs. reward with EPO makes sense for an athlete in say cycling because an extra 1/10th of a percent of energy over a 6 hour race is the difference between 1st place and 50th place. But EPO thickens the blood, putting strain on the heart, and there have been several endurance athletes who have suffered heart-attacks at very young ages.

For a tennis player, extra endurance would be great, but it's not the sort of thing that's going to make a player's career. In the end, success in tennis is about many things, of which endurance is a very small part. So risking the long term health of your heart makes no sense. At least to me.

[TennisFan008]

EPO is not dangerous, it's the abuse that is. It's also dangerous to drink ten liters of orange juice.

[Hankenstein]

Originally Posted by edmondsm

I didn't say that there was no endurance aspect to tennis, but tennis is not an "endurance sport" like marathoning, cycling, etc. I stand by that. Point being, the risk vs. reward with EPO makes sense for an athlete in say cycling because an extra 1/10th of a percent of energy over a 6 hour race is the difference between 1st place and 50th place. But EPO thickens the blood, putting strain on the heart, and there have been several endurance athletes who have suffered heart-attacks at very young ages.

For a tennis player, extra endurance would be great, but it's not the sort of thing that's going to make a player's career. In the end, success in tennis is about many things, of which endurance is a very small part. So risking the long term health of your heart makes no sense. At least to me.

I have to say the opposite. A journey-man on the ATP could earn good money with strongly improved fitness/stamina. I would go as far of saying that a dirtballer a k a claycourt specialist that have a solid baseline game and is ranked around the 500 mark would be able to break the top 100 with the positive effects of a doping with CERA. That extra edge is so vital in the top tennis. The difference between a guy ranked 100 or 600 is so small it´s amazing.

[vandre]

Originally Posted by Cantankersore

CERA, third generation EPO, will not be tested for during Roland Garros. According to the internation tennis federation (ITF), it is not used in the sport.

how do they know it isn't used in the sport unless they actually test the players for it?

[drakulie]

^^see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

[NamRanger]

Originally Posted by edmondsm

I didn't say that there was no endurance aspect to tennis, but tennis is not an "endurance sport" like marathoning, cycling, etc. I stand by that. Point being, the risk vs. reward with EPO makes sense for an athlete in say cycling because an extra 1/10th of a percent of energy over a 6 hour race is the difference between 1st place and 50th place. But EPO thickens the blood, putting strain on the heart, and there have been several endurance athletes who have suffered heart-attacks at very young ages.

For a tennis player, extra endurance would be great, but it's not the sort of thing that's going to make a player's career. In the end, success in tennis is about many things, of which endurance is a very small part. So risking the long term health of your heart makes no sense. At least to me.

Except the differences between certain tennis players is so minuscule that the EPO can indeed be the difference maker. We all like to joke about how Federer is like a god among men in the tennis world, but truth be told there's actually not THAT big of a difference between Federer and the 100th ranked player in the world.