NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Drugs cause headaches at French Open

Tournament director Patrice Clerc admitted that there were concerns about ad-hoc drug tests at the French Open by the French police, while Spanish player Alberto Berasategui insisted he would sleep through them.

''Of course we are afraid. But the police are not criminals,'' Clerc told the L'equipe sports daily earlier in the week.
''We were told that the drug tests will be tougher and that they could show up at 3 in the morning,'' said Berasategui. ''If they want to conduct blood tests at 3 in the morning they will have to kick in the door. I sleep at that time.''

International Tennis Federation official Alun James told Deutsche Presse-Agentur: ''There will be no blood tests.'' But the amount of urine tests has been raised considerably at Roland Garros.

There will be around 150 tests in the early rounds and all round- of-16 players will also have to submit their sample.

The French police earned a tough reputation last year during raids and blood tests at the Tour de France cycling extravaganza. The Festina team was thrown out after admissions from riders and officials that they used forbidden performance-enhancing substances.

Tennis has been relatively drug-free, by comparison. Mats Wilander and Karol Novacek were suspended for cocaine abuse, while the first real case occured last year when the then reigning Australian Open champion Petr Korda tested positive for nandrolone at Wimbledon.

Korda has always protested his innocence, and his eventual fate will be decided by the arbitration court for sports in Lausanne this summer.

Nandrolone in combination with the chemical substance creatine apparently works wonders on athletes. Nonadrolone is forbidden but creatine is not, and this week French player Mary Pierce and Argentina's Mariana Diaz Oliva said they used the controversial substance which helps athletes recover and build muscles.

''It helps when you lift weights, run hard, to rebuild the muscle tissues and the fibres you tear a little bit. It just helps you recover quicker nd build lean muscle mass, gives you a little bit of extra energy,'' said Pierce.

She added: ''I actually use very little in training, it is is part of my supplementation. I probably could have used it even more, but didn't want to do that.''

Diaz Oliva said she used the substance for one week during an injury because ''my coach told me it helps build muscles.'' But she stopped because she was scared of side-effects which allegedly include kidney and liver damage.

She also said that compatriot Hernan Gumy used it, but he denied the allegation yesterday. Berasategui said he would also use it if it didn't lead even worse cramps than he is already suffering from. Marcelo Rios spoke of players who used ''much too much'' of it.

Creatine is said to be used by footballers and track and field athletes. It became even more prominent when baseball home-run king Mark McGwire said he also used it, while at the same time it is banned in the U.S. for basketball and American football players.

''In the (United) States you can buy it in every supermarket,'' said Pierce, who considered the issue no big deal. ''I think anything in moderation can not really hurt you.''

An ATP survey said 60 per cent of the men on the tour used creatine, and the athletes' opinions differ on whether the substance should be forbidden (mainly for ethical reasons) or not.

World number 1 Martina Hingis said: ''I don't use anything,'' but added: ''as long as it is not a drug, take whatever you want if it helps you.''

But Diaz Oliva said: ''One has to start from zero and re-define doping. The Spaniards and Europeans know a lot of tricks.''