Cycling is full of doping scandals, every week someone is caught in the act... The great Lance Armstrong also fell, and one man is convinced that there are cheaters in tennis too - James Blake believes that some players use illegal substances, but he points out that the tennis authorities are working anything they can do to prevent it.
"I'm sure there are players who do that and find a way to escape the tests. I'm not happy about it, but I hope the tennis people do everything they can to catch those who try to beat the system," Blake said without any reason after victory over Slovak Lukaš Lack from Slovakia in the 1st round of the US Open (7:6, 6:2, 3:6, 6:3).
The man who is now 115th on the ATP list, and used to be fourth, says that he is realistic, because there is a lot of money at stake.
"The winner of the US Open gets $1,9 million and someone is bound to try to find a way to get an advantage. The authorities, however, are doing a great job when it comes to testing. Of course it's annoying when someone wakes you up at 6 a.m. just to peed in a glass, but that's their job and I don't mind".
Blake, however, did not know what to make of Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after he gave up his fight to prove he was clean.
"Cycling is now in the same position as baseball was in the steroid era, because everyone is under a cloud of suspicion. I don't know if he's guilty, but he said himself that he's had 500-600 tests. I can't say, though, that he guilty even if it's not, because I don't know him. I've never even met him," said the 32-year-old dark-skinned American, who, however, referred to Armstrong's fight with cancer and the foundation he founded.
"I know his life story is inspiring and he's helped a lot of people. He's done amazing things," Blake concluded.
In the past, only about 10 tennis players were caught in the act, and the worst was Mariano Puerta, who was fined twice. The most famous tennis players who used illegal substances are Martina Hingis and Andre Agassi - traces of cocaine were found in a sample taken from a Swiss woman, while the legendary American admitted in his 2009 autobiography that he used methamphetamine in 1997.
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