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SPORTS Saturday 4 May 2019
'Political chaos' envelops tennis as French Open approaches

By HOWARD FENDRICH The conversation is sure to
AP Tennis Writer continue until a key vote
Tennis is in turmoil as the for the ATP board of direc-
French Open approaches. tors takes place May 14 in
As three-time major cham- Rome — and through the
pion Stan Wawrinka put it: next Grand Slam tourna-
"Politics have overshad- ment, which begins at Ro-
owed the action on the land Garros on May 26.
courts." Wawrinka slammed the
In a letter published Fri- representatives on the
day in The Times of Lon- board and the player
don, Wawrinka decried his council, saying the prob-
sport's "worrying decline in lem is not with the govern-
moral standards" and out- ing structure but the caliber
lined several aspects of the of the people in positions of
ongoing drama enveloping importance.
the men's tour — and caus- Wawrinka's letter men-
ing more of a racket than tions "political chaos" and
the rackets themselves. the "numerous conflicts of
"I feel compelled to express interest" that plague ten-
my views on this regretta- nis. It also prominently dis-
ble period in our sport," said cusses a topic about which
Wawrinka, who once was he already had been out-
ranked as high as No. 3 and spoken: Justin Gimelstob, In this Feb. 17, 2019 file photo, Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, clenches his fist after scoring a point
is currently 33rd after a se- the ex-player, coach and against Gael Monfils, of Franc,e in the men's singles final of the ABN AMRO world tennis tourna-
ries of injuries. "This episode TV commentator who re- ment at Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
has left many players, my- signed from the tour board
self included, concerned this week after pleading no was sentenced April 22 to Angeles on Halloween in of responses from people
about the direction tennis is contest to misdemeanor three years of probation, 60 2017. involved in the game, par-
heading in." assault for attacking a for- days of community service In a statement to the court, ticularly at the beginning
There certainly has been mer friend. and a year's worth of anger Kaplan said Gimelstob of this saga, when he was
a lot going on behind the While Gimelstob's case still management classes for struck him multiple times charged last December,
scenes with regard to who was pending, he was al- what prosecutors said was and threatened to kill him. was alarming," Wawrinka
runs the men's professional lowed to remain in his pow- Gimelstob's attack of Ran- "There is no place in our wrote. "This is a situation
tour, and lately it's been erful ATP post. dall Kaplan as they trick-or- sport for those who be- where silence amounts to
spilling into public view. The 42-year-old American treated with their kids in Los have like Justin. The lack complicity."q

SEMENYA at an end. But Semenya also didn't
Continued from Page 17 Ended not by another give a clear idea of what
She won the 800 meters competitor, but by new she would do next. She
at the opening Diamond regulations set to come said she wouldn't move up
League meeting of the into effect Wednesday. to the 5,000 meters and she
season in Doha, Qatar, with They require the South Afri- definitely wouldn't retire.
a meet record of 1 minute, can star and other female "God has decided my ca-
54.98 seconds. It was her athletes with high levels reer, God will end my ca-
fourth-fastest time ever. of natural testosterone to reer," she said in the BBC
The only person ahead of medically lower them to interview. "No man, or any
her at any time during the be eligible to compete in other human, can stop me
race was the pacemaker. events ranging from 400 from running. How am I go-
Semenya's nearest chal- meters to the mile. ing to retire when I'm 28? I
lenger, the Olympic silver Semenya failed to overturn still feel young, energetic. I
medalist Francine Niyonsa- those rules in her appeal to still have 10 years or more
ba, was nearly three sec- the Court of Arbitration for in athletics.
onds and about 20 meters Sport. "It doesn't matter how I'm
behind her — barely in the Now, her career appears going to do it. What mat-
picture. Ajee Wilson of the to be at a crossroads: Does ters is I'll still be here. I am South Africa's Caster Semenya, right, competes to win the gold
in the women's 800-meter final during the Diamond League in
United States was third. she take medication to never going anywhere." Doha, Qatar, Friday, May 3, 2019.
It was Semenya's first 800 lower her testosterone? The Semenya's comments may Associated Press
meter race this year and medication will likely inhibit foreshadow an appeal
first since losing her case her athletic performance against the CAS ruling, in the 800, where she is a on the track to indicate it
against the IAAF this week. and could blunt her domi- aimed first at allowing Se- double Olympic and a might be her last race at
"Actions speak louder than nance. Or does she switch menya to defend her 800 three-time world champi- the distance. She raised
words," Semenya told the events and run in long-dis- title at the world champi- on, and arguably the best her right fist when an-
BBC. "When you are a tance races not affected onships, also in Doha, in female athlete to run the nouncers introduced her
great champion, you al- by the regulations? September and October distance in 40 years. before the race.
ways deliver." She was emphatic when while not taking the hor- Her career, however, She was presented with
But Semenya's four-year she told reporters af- mone-suppressing drugs. seems destined to be over- a bunch of flowers and
dominance over two laps ter Friday's race that she But, if she keeps her prom- shadowed by the testoster- tossed them to the crowd
— Friday's win was her 30th wouldn't take the medica- ise not to lower her testos- one debate, which has the at the end. She then gave
straight in the 800 continu- tion. terone, there is a chance potential for implications a thumbs-up to fans,
ing a run that started in "That's an illegal method," that Friday was the last far beyond her own results. flashed a brief smile, and
late 2015 — may now be she said. time that Semenya runs Semenya gave away little walked off the track.q