Sureshs is trolling, but I know that you are serious, so I have to call BS on your logic.
They have less to lose but the guys who are at the top of the sport have more to win.
Why do you think "guys" like Carl Lewis, Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones doped untiul they were caught, despite their extremely successful careers.
Jeez, this VB neverending naive attitude towards doping is something. :roll:
I half agree with you. Clearly, those examples exist, so there are at least some people in that position who would do it, but I know that if I were brilliant at tennis, I'd not want to risk getting caught. Then again, I don't think I'd want to win if I could only do so by cheating.
That said, I can imagine how I might be tempted if I was a struggling player, building up debts and with low risks of getting tested, especially if I stuck to doing it out of competition while on a training camp in the back of beyond where I can hide out somewhere if the testers come unexpectedly. If the worst comes to the worst, I'll use the 'I bought the wrong supplements' excuse, and while I might face a ban, I won't have to deal with too big a scandal.
If I were a top player, I'd be terrified about getting caught, and the fall-out that would result. I can't see me ever being motivated to risk it, if I was already financially comfortable. I know there are things that might make doping easier for a top player, but it's wrong to presume that all top athletes share the same mentality when it comes to the risks of getting caught doping.
Armstrong is a pure vindictive sociopath and manipulator.
This is what I mean. One of the defining features of a sociopath is they don't fear consequences of getting caught. There is something in the way their brains are wired that means they just don't properly connect the dots between their crime and potential punishment. This is one of the reasons they are invariably likely to reoffend, regardless of the threat of sever punishment, and I'd include the shame of getting caught with that.
The fact is, unless we are convinced that all tennis players are sociopaths, comparing their attitudes with those of Armstrong is irrelevant.
The stuff about how he got away with it, and cover-ups is more relevant.