Rafael Nadal would like to see more transparency in drug testing. He made his comments on Monday after surviving a first round scare in the French Open, the Associated Press reports.
He told reporters on Monday that tennis needs more transparency in its drug testing of players. He would like tennis to reveal who is being tested and how often, which he believes would cut the amount of questions concerning testing.
All top tennis players are subject to random testing. Unlike other sports, performance-enhancing drugs seemingly aren't prevalent in tennis.
"[It's a] very clean sport," he said. "... We don't have a lot of cases of doping."
Performance-enhancing drugs have swept through a majority of major sports. Major League Baseball came into the spotlight in the mid-2000s after Jose Canseco's tell-all book described the rampant use of steroids in baseball. Even bicycle racing wasn't immune to drug use — Lance Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, admitted in January to using performance-enhancing drugs. PGA golfer Vijay Singh also admitted to using deer-antler spray in January, although he was subsuquently acquitted of any punishment.
Nadal's suggestion to make drug testing more transparent would alleviate many of the doping questions from the media, and it'd end speculation as to whether a player is using drugs, ultimately keeping the focus on the game.
