All posts on the Tennis Has a Steroid Problem blog got deleted

http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.com/

As many of you know, this used to be the #1 source for information on doping in tennis. Although the owner had a pro-Federer bias and went easier on him, it was a great resource and he exposed many things.

A while back the owner announced he was quitting the blog. Understandable, it can get tiring writing a lot on a relatively obscure blog without anything getting better. But now I see all the posts have been deleted. A rich archive of resources, poof, gone. Isn't that fucking weird?

Did the ATP pressure Blogspot into deleting everything? Did they pressure the owner himself? What can it be?

You can access the archived posts here: https://web.archive.org/web/20181228234443/http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.com/. Also, the author appears to have made a new blog: https://tennishasadopingproblemblog.wordpress.com

Here are some more interesting blog posts from another (old) blog.  Notice that people are still making comments, though.  Read what folks have said in the last couple years or so:

https://federerisdoping.blogspot.com/2010/11/federer-linked-to-epo-and-other-peds.html

http://federerisdoping.blogspot.com/2011/01/doping-cheat-roger-federer-gets-further.html

Here's the thing—if Federer were definitely not doping, would anybody really be suspicious?  Probably not.  As one commenter on the blog said, Occam's razor applies.  There's no need to say, "Oh, well, it sure LOOKS like Federer is doping, but hey, you know, he's really, um, probably not."  

But of course, probably many others are doping as well.  Anyway, at the moment, Federer seems to be by far the most flagrant example.

I feel very naive for never having suspected this stuff in the past.  Now, it all seems to make perfect sense.  This has definitely "burst my bubble" as far as tennis goes.  It's like, "Well, if you don't know who's clean and who isn't, who has the most Grand Slams titles doesn't really mean a whole lot, now does it?"  

Hi, I'm one of the loser trolls who feels offended that I can't make unproven drug accusations against pro athletes on a tennis forum without facing moderation. Grrr, those mods make me so mad, they won't let me spout complete shit and they delete one out of every 300 posts I make when I'm clearly trying to antagonize other fans! Whatever happened to free speech???

I don't have much of a life besides MTF, as you can tell from my massive post count. But let's make this forum bigger than MTF! This is the first step of a mass exodus! Federer does HGH and I heard Nadal snorted weed once. Namaste.

Thanks for creating the thread, it's difficult to discuss tennis doping in the other forum.

As mentioned above, tennis steroid blog is no longer active but a new one was created awhile ago https://tennishasadopingproblemblog.wordpress.com

Admin wrote:You can access the archived posts here: https://web.archive.org/web/20181228234443/http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.com/. Also, the author appears to have made a new blog: https://tennishasadopingproblemblog.wordpress.com

Thanks, I will try to pull some stuff that way. Don't think it's the same author, though.

Idiot wrote:Hi, I'm one of the loser trolls who feels offended that I can't make unproven drug accusations against pro athletes on a tennis forum without facing moderation. Grrr, those mods make me so mad, they won't let me spout complete shit and they delete one out of every 300 posts I make when I'm clearly trying to antagonize other fans! Whatever happened to free speech???

I don't have much of a life besides MTF, as you can tell from my massive post count. But let's make this forum bigger than MTF! This is the first step of a mass exodus! Federer does HGH and I heard Nadal snorted weed once. Namaste.

Pretty sure getting this mad about people accusing your favorite tennis player of doping makes you more unhinged than us, mate

KCshore wrote:Thanks for creating the thread, it's difficult to discuss tennis doping in the other forum.

As mentioned above, tennis steroid blog is no longer active but a new one was created awhile ago https://tennishasadopingproblemblog.wordpress.com

Seems a bit inactive, sadly. Basically just opens a new thread every slam for people to express their thoughts

Chris Kuerten wrote:

Admin wrote:You can access the archived posts here: https://web.archive.org/web/20181228234443/http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.com/. Also, the author appears to have made a new blog: https://tennishasadopingproblemblog.wordpress.com

Thanks, I will try to pull some stuff that way. Don't think it's the same author, though.

Idiot wrote:Hi, I'm one of the loser trolls who feels offended that I can't make unproven drug accusations against pro athletes on a tennis forum without facing moderation. Grrr, those mods make me so mad, they won't let me spout complete shit and they delete one out of every 300 posts I make when I'm clearly trying to antagonize other fans! Whatever happened to free speech???

I don't have much of a life besides MTF, as you can tell from my massive post count. But let's make this forum bigger than MTF! This is the first step of a mass exodus!  Federer does HGH and I heard Nadal snorted weed once.  Namaste.

Pretty sure getting this mad about people accusing your favorite tennis player of doping makes you more unhinged than us, mate

KCshore wrote:Thanks for creating the thread, it's difficult to discuss tennis doping in the other forum.

As mentioned above, tennis steroid blog is no longer active but a new one was created awhile ago https://tennishasadopingproblemblog.wordpress.com

Seems a bit inactive, sadly. Basically just opens a new thread every slam for people to express their thoughts

True, usually it's active during Grand Slams.

Seems like the old blog was more active.

As for MTF, I think the Fed, Nadal or Novak fans get upset if we discuss doping or speculate if their favourite is doping. But it's a tricky topic, since we don't have that much information on tennis doping or drug testing. Though I've always been skeptical about drug testing in tennis seems lenient compared to other sports.

Plus, the top players have the money and resources to access the best science and technology to improve their body.

KCshore wrote:
As for MTF, I think the Fed, Nadal or Novak fans get upset if we discuss doping or speculate if their favourite is doping.

It's all about making a reasonable case.  It's silly to say, "Well, I don't like Player X; therefore he must be doping!!!"  However, as long as you can give some decent arguments to back up your case, that's what matters.  Unfortunately, on MTF, that's still not allowed.  

Though I've always been skeptical about drug testing in tennis seems lenient compared to other sports.

It seems like a joke, more or less.

Plus, the top players have the money and resources to access the best science and technology to improve their body.  

Yes, indeed.  A player who's ranked #254 is probably not going to have access to the best drugs, and is also much more likely to get caught.  So, it's the top players who really deserve the greatest scrutiny.    

It would be interesting to know if his fellow players or some of the famous champions from the past think something may be going on with Federer.  They can't all be that stupid.  Of course, we wouldn't hear about it, but it's hard not to wonder what might be going through their heads.

Though I've always been skeptical about drug testing in tennis seems lenient compared to other sports.

It seems like a joke, more or less.

Plus, the top players have the money and resources to access the best science and technology to improve their body.  

Also, the top players tend to bounce back from injury pretty quickly and win a Grand Slam. eg: Federer - Aust Open 2017.  Someone ranked #200 does not have the money or access to the best doctors to improve their fitness.  

I'm sure some of the ex players and commentators know what goes on behind the scenes. McEnroe usually questions - how does Federer keep winning?  

Whereas, look at Wawrinka he has struggled to regain his best form since returning back from a major injury.

You people want to accuse tennis players of doping, all without any evidence, and you're surprised that type of discussion isn't allowed on a public tennis forum? How ridiculous is your train of thought? Tennis players are randomly tested at roughly half of the tournaments they enter, in addition to out-of-competition testing. That's far more frequent than professional sports leagues like the NBA and NFL. And to the idiot claiming that top players can afford some type of undetectable drugs—modern testing isn't just checking for drug metabolites. They look at hormone levels and anything above baseline gets flagged. It doesn't matter what new age cocktail you use to get there. And lastly, you're all giving drugs waaaaay too much credit for what they can do. The human body is a series of checks and balances, and any hormone pushed too far in one direction will have consequences in another. Tennis is the last major sport I'd give a shit about when it comes to drugs.

marcia brady wrote:You people want to accuse tennis players of doping, all without any evidence, and you're surprised that type of discussion isn't allowed on a public tennis forum? How ridiculous is your train of thought? Tennis players are randomly tested at roughly half of the tournaments they enter, in addition to out-of-competition testing. That's far more frequent than professional sports leagues like the NBA and NFL. And to the idiot claiming that top players can afford some type of undetectable drugs—modern testing isn't just checking for drug metabolites. They look at hormone levels and anything above baseline gets flagged. It doesn't matter what new age cocktail you use to get there. And lastly, you're all giving drugs waaaaay too much credit for what they can do. The human body is a series of checks and balances, and any hormone pushed too far in one direction will have consequences in another. Tennis is the last major sport I'd give a shit about when it comes to drugs.

Oh Marcia, you really have some nerve calling people idiots when you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. As if athletes and doctors are so stupid as to use high-dosage treatment to increase performance. Obviously, that would get you flagged in no time. No, the secret to beating the system is microdosing. I thought everybody knows that already and besides, the biological passport in tennis was only introduced in 2013! So let's say a tennis player has already been using a sophisticated doping program since 2007 or earlier. Naturally, his "normal" blood levels would be elevated compared to those of a clean athlete, who has turned pro in 2012, and it would only make it easier for the cheater to continue to cheat within his own established (elevated) parameters. If you really think about it, the biological passport actually works to the advantage of the older guys on tour and might be one of the reasons why the young guard can't seem to breakthrough.

BTW, I would advise you to read the following article. from the BBC: How I became a drug cheat athlete to test the system. If amateur athletes can beat the biological passport this easily, there's no telling what actual superstars with the backing of multi-million $ corporations and top-notch doctors can do.

marcia brady wrote:You people want to accuse tennis players of doping, all without any evidence, and you're surprised that type of discussion isn't allowed on a public tennis forum? How ridiculous is your train of thought? Tennis players are randomly tested at roughly half of the tournaments they enter, in addition to out-of-competition testing. That's far more frequent than professional sports leagues like the NBA and NFL. And to the idiot claiming that top players can afford some type of undetectable drugs—modern testing isn't just checking for drug metabolites. They look at hormone levels and anything above baseline gets flagged. It doesn't matter what new age cocktail you use to get there. And lastly, you're all giving drugs waaaaay too much credit for what they can do. The human body is a series of checks and balances, and any hormone pushed too far in one direction will have consequences in another. Tennis is the last major sport I'd give a shit about when it comes to drugs.

You can't seriously be justifying the doping tests in a sport where literal neighbors (friends?) are doing the tests. From https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/wimb/2018/07/01/roger-federer-explains-inconsistency-drug-testing/749924002/:

"In the village I live in in Switzerland, the tester lives in the same village, so if's very convenient," he said, smiling. "If he's bored at home, he probably just says, 'Let me check in on Roger to see if he's having a good time.'"

Or where you can lock yourself in a "panic room" to avoid a test: https://beforeitsnews.com/v3/sports/2015/2624132.html

" In 2011, Serena Williams locked herself in her Los Angeles home’s panic room when she thought an intruder was lurking outside. It was a drug tester; ITF data shows Williams didn’t take an OC test at all in 2010 or 2011."

You can't claim sports are clean in a world where the courts order test results to be literally destroyed (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/10027763/Operation-Puerto-judge-sparks-outrage-by-ordering-destruction-of-blood-bags.html). The "spanish doctor" admitted to treating tennis PLAYERS (plural) by the way. And all these years later we still have no names and likely never will.

bighax wrote:
You can't claim sports are clean in a world where the courts order test results to be literally destroyed (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/10027763/Operation-Puerto-judge-sparks-outrage-by-ordering-destruction-of-blood-bags.html). The "spanish doctor" admitted to treating tennis PLAYERS (plural) by the way. And all these years later we still have no names and likely never will.

Wow, that's outrageous.  Wonder how much the judge got paid.  

I'm just curious—is it possible that there are some top players who have never ever used PEDs?  How likely is that, I wonder?

In a sense, it's poetic justice that these drugs do have side effects.  So, even if the players never get caught, at least they may pay the price in other ways.

Oh, this is really good.  I just read this on another forum:

For me the most damning (circumstantial) evidence against Federer is his consistent under performance in the Olympics.

In 2008, between a Wimbledon final (greatest match ever?) and a US Open victory, he had a lame defeat to Blake, who had only taken one set off him in eight previous matches and would never take a set off him again.

In 2012 he completely flopped against Murray, who he had convincingly beaten four weeks earlier on the same court. His fans put it down to a long match against del Potro two days before, but that does not usually trouble him, and did not have the same affect on del Potro who went on to beat Djokovic quite easily.

In 2016 he did not even show up, even though in the form he showed at Wimbledon he would have had a good chance of success. Why quit in July when he could have had a good crack at an Olympic Gold in August and still had five months off?

Could this be in any way connected to the fact that anti-doping at the Olympics is controlled by the IOC rather than the ITF?

neptune wrote:Oh, this is really good.  I just read this on another forum:

For me the most damning (circumstantial) evidence against Federer is his consistent under performance in the Olympics.

In 2008, between a Wimbledon final (greatest match ever?) and a US Open victory, he had a lame defeat to Blake, who had only taken one set off him in eight previous matches and would never take a set off him again.

In 2012 he completely flopped against Murray, who he had convincingly beaten four weeks earlier on the same court. His fans put it down to a long match against del Potro two days before, but that does not usually trouble him, and did not have the same affect on del Potro who went on to beat Djokovic quite easily.

In 2016 he did not even show up, even though in the form he showed at Wimbledon he would have had a good chance of success. Why quit in July when he could have had a good crack at an Olympic Gold in August and still had five months off?

Could this be in any way connected to the fact that anti-doping at the Olympics is controlled by the IOC rather than the ITF?

Interesting point, I never really thought about Federer's record at the Olympics but, yes, IOC has a strict drug testing policy.  Unlike ITF.

I understand fans get upset and defensive if we talk about their favourites taking drugs, and it's difficult to discuss further because we don't get much information about tennis drug testing, or it's different from other sports.  In the past, McEnroe and Agassi have spoken about drug taking and they were never suspended.  It's naive to think that some pro athletes do not take some type of drug especially with microdosing.  
Look at Lance Armstrong or Marion Jones both superstars, eventually they were caught.  

Old article from 2018 about ITF drug testing


https://www.espn.com.au/tennis/story/_/id/24052302/wimbledon-2018-how-some-drug-testing-figures-really-pan-tennis

Here's another article about Federer that's a couple of years old:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/brian-boyd-federer-happy-to-talk-about-drugs-so-why-does-nobody-want-to-ask-1.3157855

The writer does seem a bit naive, but still a good article overall.

neptune wrote:Here's another article about Federer that's a couple of years old:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/brian-boyd-federer-happy-to-talk-about-drugs-so-why-does-nobody-want-to-ask-1.3157855

The author does seem a bit naive, but still a good article overall.

Ha! The guy says right at the beginning that "There is absolutely no evidence that Federer is anything but a clean athlete" but then gives a bunch of evidence or at least clues...Good article overall, though.

How many times was Armstrong tested again without testing positive ?

Chris Kuerten wrote:How many times was Armstrong tested again without testing positive ?

In regards to Armstrong: Novak Djokovic isn’t accused of doping, but he sounds eerily like Lance Armstrong

bighax wrote:Novak Djokovic isn’t accused of doping, but he sounds eerily like Lance Armstrong

It's interesting that, in their public interviews at least, Federer and Murray suspect the sport is dirty while Djokovic maintains it's clean.  Don't really know what to make of that.  

Here's an article in which Chris Evert mentions that doping even went on years ago:

https://tennismash.com/2016/03/15/evert-doping-went-on-when-i-was-playing/

After reading the article, I don't know whether she and Patrick McEnroe are just naive, or are being intentionally deceptive.

And in this article, Chris Rochus accused Nadal of doping at the Australian Open (of course, he could've just been faking an injury):  

https://www.ibtimes.com.au/rafael-nadal-doping-spaniard-accused-injecting-ped-locker-room-during-australian-open-finals-1331893

Also, here are a couple of interesting videos:  

Does tennis have a steroid problem? (The guy drops F-bombs every 2 seconds, but it's still worth watching.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qNshVcHpNM

Is Nadal juiced?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQBrApDUJwg

Finally, here's an article about the long history of cheating in sports:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/15/sports-cheats-greed-politics-athletics-iaaf

And this sounds like an interesting book:
https://www.amazon.com/Foul-Play-Dark-Cheating-Sport/dp/1408155796

I link to a lot of articles as well in my blogs: http://tennispurist.blogspot.com/

Perhaps we can gather everything and make an archive of it

I thought I would share this video, Novak's diet has helped him become a GS champion


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Bz2WzNlgY

Chris Kuerten wrote:Perhaps we can gather everything and make an archive of it

Yes, that might be a good idea.

KCshore wrote:I thought I would share this video, Novak's diet has helped him become a GS champion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Bz2WzNlgY

Thanks for the video.  I watched it, but it doesn't provide a lot of details.  For instance, did he determine that specific kinds of meats were giving him trouble?  In general, I don't believe that a totally vegetarian diet is healthy, but certainly eliminating things that you're allergic to (like gluten, dairy, etc.) can only help.  I hope he's still eating fish and eggs at least.

Some folks think that his "gluten-free diet" is just a cover for something more nefarious, but I think the story could be true.  Of course, the two possible "protocols" aren't mutually exclusive either.  

Interesting that Federer is now saying he is unsure about participating in the Olympics next year:

https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Roger_Federer/76337/roger-federer-not-sure-about-playing-2020-olympic-games-in-tokyo/

Well, this fits in with what was posted earlier in this thread:

In 2016 [Federer] did not even show up, even though in the form he showed at Wimbledon he would have had a good chance of success. Why quit in July when he could have had a good crack at an Olympic Gold in August and still had five months off?

Could this be in any way connected to the fact that anti-doping at the Olympics is controlled by the IOC rather than the ITF?

The Tokyo Olympics are over 10 months away.  Why would you make such a statement this early?  If Federer were clean and planning to play throughout 2020, this statement would make little sense.

I suspect he would very much like to add an Olympic gold to his résumé, so I really don't believe his hesitation is from "lack of interest."  

Let's see—just a month ago, Federer seemed completely unsure about participating in Tokyo.  Now, he seems totally into it.  What changed?  

Well, at the end of April 2017, he also said that he planned to participate in the French Open the very next month:

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/federer-says-plans-play-french-open-181649082--ten.html

And guess what—in the middle of the next month he withdrew!  

https://www.si.com/tennis/2017/05/15/roger-federer-withdraws-2017-french-open

It's also interesting that Federer says he plans to play in Tokyo "if healthy."  Gotta wonder what that means.  

Maybe Federer does plan to compete in Tokyo, but I'm not buying it.  It sounds mostly like PR to me—tell the tennis fans exactly what they want to hear.  What do you want to bet that he pulls out a few weeks before the event with an "injury"?   Of course, it is possible that he wants the Olympics to be his swan song—who knows.

Anyway, I don't really care if he attends or not.  But without the use of PEDs, I'd be surprised to see him win any kind of medal in singles.