Maria Sharapova
In a series of angry tweets, Capriati described herself as
"disappointed", and called for Sharapova to be stripped of her
titles.
Jenifer Capriati
"I had to lose my career and never opted to cheat no
matter what. I had to throw in the towel and suffer," she wrote.
"I didn't have the high priced team of [doctors] that
found a way for me to cheat and get around the system and wait for science to
catch up".
Capriati appeared to defend herself from backlash she
received from her comments, but her position did not change.
"What's the point of someone taking a heart medicine
that helps your heart recover faster unless you have a heart condition? Is that
accurate," she asked.
"In my opinion [if] its all true every title should be
stripped. This is other people's lives as well."
Capriati is no stranger to controversy herself. She was
arrested for shoplifting in Florida in 1993, early in her tennis career. She
was arrested again in 1994 for marijuana possession. She also spent time in
rehab in 1994.
She returned to tennis a few years later and went on to win
the Australian Open in 2001 and 2002, as well as the 2001 French Open, before
retiring in 2004.
She also made headlines after her retirement, accused by
former boyfriend Ivan Brannan of punching him in 2013, and stalking him for
months before that. The charges were dropped and Capriati served community
service.
In contrast to Capriati's outburst, high-profile former
tennis official Richard Ings praised the "brilliant presser by Sharapova.
That's the play book if you ever face a positive drugs test. Transparent and
sorry."
Australian Rennae Stubbs admitted to being "absolutely
shocked", while former great Martina Navratilova, who first spotted the
six-year-old Sharapova at a tennis clinic in Sochi, tweeted: "Hold your
horses everyone - about Maria - I don't have all the facts, I hope it's an
honest mistake, stuff was legal as far as I know till 2015."
American Brad Gilbert as among those "stunned"
that no-one of Sharapova's team checked the updated WADA list, as "players
are responsible but this is big time oversight on team as well".
Former US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe also voiced his
opinion on Twitter, saying "Meldonium is not approved by the Food and Drug
Administration for use in the United States. It can increase 'physical work
capabilities'".
"Doesn't look that innocent for Sharapova or whoever
else took it, this Meldonium stuff but who knows," Australia No.104 Matt
Ebden tweeted.
Former British No.1 Andrew Castle agreed. "Hold on.
This is weird. Wada issue their list of banned substances and you don't look? Nor
do management?"
Tennis coach Judy Murray, mother of player Andy, had her own
critique of Sharapova's press conference.
“If I was going 2 announce my retirement, it wouldn’t b
in a downtown Los Angeles hotel with a fairly ugly carpet." Sharapova.
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