Iga Swiatek receives doping ban after positive test for banned substance trimetazidine

beltsman

G.O.A.T.
This is so ridiculous man. I dont know exactly what the NFLs or MLBs policies are regarding PEDs and levels. But of all the people busted ive literally never heard anyone say oh it was contamination. We are going down a road right now we dont want to be going down.

And honestly pro tennis attempting to defend this crap by being like oh we are so open and transparent your just to dumb or didnt read all the fine print but its all cool, are going to lose fans man. You cant keep doing this. They are treating their fanbase like idiots. And hell maybe thats the way to go. We will see.

Seems mighty coincidental that Iga's melatonin (that she "forgot" to list) is made in a factory that produces a PED...
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Ok, but you simply cannot blame a player for the actions of one of their fans. It's impossible.

Likewise, speculating on how Seles' career would have progressed is almost impossible. So many players, especially on the women's side, showed great potential at a young age, and even achieved great results, only to stop developing and eventually slide backwards. We simply cannot know what would have happened with Seles, and we really can't speculate on how it would have affected Graf's career.

But they will continue pushing their ridiculous "what if?" narratives to con themselves into believing Seles was going to overtake Graf with the majors. At the peak of her abilities, Seles was never going to win the Grand Slam, and the lack of that zenith of tennis achievement alone was evidence of Seles never being the superior player Graf was.


Agree completely, as stated above. Some people go so deep with their fantasies about what would have happened without the stabbing, but they are just that: fantasies and ideas.

Agreed, and those who create and/or invest in this fantasy always lean heavily on blaming Graf for the actions of some criminal, while conveniently glossing over Seles' own shortcomings as a player.
 

Steffi-forever

Hall of Fame
Steffi was great but noway she would win 20 + slams if Monica wasn't stabbed. Compared that with men with Nadal getting out of the picture at the age of 20 and Djokovic would have win at least 3 more RG titles and 2 US Opens .

For me the women tennis is in a low quality for big rivalries for the last decade at the lest . No hope for near future .
Seles benefited from Graf being in a slump with her game, personal problems and confidence crisis in the early 90s. In 1991 and 1992, Steffi had 15 losses, and only one of them was against Seles. Comparing that to all the other years of her prime (87’ to 90’ and 93’ to 96’) Steffi had an average of 3.75 losses per year.
 

Genie Of the Bank

Hall of Fame
Seles benefited from Graf being in a slump with her game, personal problems and confidence crisis in the early 90s. In 1991 and 1992, Steffi had 15 losses, and only one of them was against Seles. Comparing that to all the other years of her prime (87’ to 90’ and 93’ to 96’) Steffi had an average of 3.75 losses per year.
The problematic part is 93 to 96, she wouldn't have those results without Seles stabbing.

 
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THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Seles was vastly overrated and proved she was incompetent at Wimbledon. She was no GOAT in the making (no Grand Slam, no GOAT status), or on the path to being the best of her generation. Since her biggest cheerleaders love playing hypotheticals, one can see how Seles--sans stabbing--was going to still fall behind Graf and even as Graf's career was coming to a close, another generation would soon rise which would wipe the courts with her, once they entered their majors-winning form.
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
At the peak of her abilities, Seles was never going to win the Grand Slam
Really? In late 1992 and early 1993, Seles' serving was noticeably getting better than ever (watch the 1993 Australian Open final against Graf, for example), and she was already runner-up at Wimbledon in 1992.

Martinez won Wimbledon in 1994, so it's ridiculous to say that Seles couldn't win Wimbledon. Martinez's win over a 37-year-old Navratilova in the 1994 Wimbledon final was a surprise. Seles had beaten Navratilova at 1992 Wimbledon in the semi final.
 

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
In the late 1990s, it was the other way round, i.e. the women's game was full of consistent rivalries and rallies, the men's game dominated by big serving and short rallies (especially on certain surfaces) and lacking consistent rivalries. I can remember Borg publicly criticizing the lack of rivalries in men's tennis at the time, and Lendl saying that he preferred watching women's tennis because there were more longer rallies.
That's funny, because I wasn't really watching tennis for a while in the 00's, but I always used to tell people that I preferred women's tennis to men's, because the men were overpowering the courts. (I actually feel that way right now about volleyball, where women's volleyball is a much better watch). Indeed, watching those old women's matches from the '90's is so much better than what we see today in the WTA.
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Seles was vastly overrated and proved she was incompetent at Wimbledon. She was no GOAT in the making (no Grand Slam, no GOAT status), or on the path to being the best of her generation. Since her biggest cheerleaders love playing hypotheticals, one can see how Seles--sans stabbing--was going to still fall behind Graf and even as Graf's career was coming to a close, another generation would soon rise which would wipe the courts with her, once they entered their majors-winning form.
Even at 2 majors per year, let alone the possibility of 3 or 4 per year, Seles would be on 15 majors after the 1996 US Open, age 22. At 3 majors per year, that would be 19 majors.

The likelihood of Seles winning just 1 more major after the 1993 Australian Open is not exactly likely pre-stabbing (especially given her enthusiasm for tennis, and her form), having won 8 majors at age 19, and being denied the chance of possibly winning 3 more majors as a teenager.

That's funny, because I wasn't really watching tennis for a while in the 00's, but I always used to tell people that I preferred women's tennis to men's, because the men were overpowering the courts. (I actually feel that way right now about volleyball, where women's volleyball is a much better watch). Indeed, watching those old women's matches from the '90's is so much better than what we see today in the WTA.
I honestly think that a lot of the female players got distracted by off-court stuff around the mid 2000s, i.e. they were now doing better business off-court than on-court, and the play got more one dimensional as a result, while men's tennis soared with the whole Federer vs. Nadal rivalry, later Djokovic and Murray, and with other players who could sometimes give them a serious game. Serena Williams was winning a lot of majors while being almost semi-retired.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Really? In late 1992 and early 1993, Seles' serving was noticeably getting better than ever (watch the 1993 Australian Open final against Graf, for example), and she was already runner-up at Wimbledon in 1992.

Martinez won Wimbledon in 1994, so it's ridiculous to say that Seles couldn't win Wimbledon. Martinez's win over a 37-year-old Navratilova in the 1994 Wimbledon final was a surprise. Seles had beaten Navratilova at 1992 Wimbledon in the semi final.
Martinez winning a Wimbledon title is irrelevant to Seles' lack of a game for Wimbledon, and its quite disrespectful to Martinez, as if her victory there is to be questioned. The bottom line is that Martinez had the game to win that final match over Navratilova and the title (being the player to bring an end to Martina's appearances in a majors final) while Seles--at the peak of her career game--was easily picked apart in her final by Graf and her superior game.
 

JMR

Hall of Fame
Martinez winning a Wimbledon title is irrelevant to Seles' lack of a game for Wimbledon, and its quite disrespectful to Martinez, as if her victory there is to be questioned. The bottom line is that Martinez had the game to win that final match over Navratilova and the title (being the player to bring an end to Martina's appearances in a majors final) while Seles--at the peak of her career game--was easily picked apart in her final by Graf and her superior game.
Look at it this way: Neither Agassi nor Courier was a match for Sampras on grass, yet Agassi won a Wimbledon title in the 90s and Courier came close (the latter against Sampras himself). Give Seles a few more chances in her undisturbed prime and her snagging a Wim title wouldn't have been a huge surprise.

That said, while some limited speculation can be fun, trying to precisely tally hypothetical slam wins for legacy purposes strikes me as a recipe for nothing but angst. Maureen Connolly would have reached 30 slams if not for that truck! :(
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Martinez winning a Wimbledon title is irrelevant to Seles' lack of a game for Wimbledon, and its quite disrespectful to Martinez
Don't be ridiculous. It was a surprise that Martinez won the 1994 Wimbledon final against Navratilova at the time. Seles had beaten Navratilova in the 1992 Wimbledon semi final, so "not a lack of game".

while Seles--at the peak of her career game--was easily picked apart in her final by Graf and her superior game.
While Graf was certainly better on the day, the fact of the matter is that due to the number of rain delays, especially in the second set, it didn't really feel like a drubbing at all. Also, for one of the very rare times in her teenage years, Seles showed a mental weakness by staying as quiet as a mouse, after coming under intense media pressure throughout the 1992 Wimbledon tournament. Seles learned from that quickly, especially after chatting with Arthur Ashe in Montreal in August 1992, who basically told her to pay no attention to the anti-grunt brigade in future. From the 1992 US Open onwards, Seles won 36 matches out of 37 until she was stabbed, a run which included a 34-match winning streak and where she was serving better than ever. I'd say Seles was more ready than ever to win Wimbledon at the time.
 
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