UN Suspends Sharapova As Goodwill Ambassador

The United Nations has suspended Maria Sharapova as a goodwill ambassador after she failed a drug test at the Australian Open, the latest fall from grace for the Russian tennis star.
Sharapova had been a goodwill ambassador for the UN Development Programme for the past nine years, and had been active in helping recovery efforts after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

“The United Nations Development Programme remains grateful to Maria Sharapova for her support of our work, especially around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster recovery,” said a spokesperson.

“However, in light of Ms. Sharapova’s recent announcement, we last week suspended her role as a Goodwill Ambassador and any planned activities while the investigation continues.”

“We wish Ms. Sharapova the best,” she added.

Former world number one Sharapova announced last week that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open in January.

Sharapova tested positive for meldonium, which was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list on January 1.

US sportswear giant Nike, German luxury car maker Porsche and Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer have all halted their relationship with the former world number one.

Sharapova has made visits to Belarus as goodwill ambassador and donated $100,000 to support youth projects in rural areas that suffer from the after-affects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Sharapova’s family fled the city of Gomel in Belarus in 1987 after the Chernobyl disaster, moving to Siberia where the tennis star was born.

The family lived in Nyagan, Siberia for two years and then moved to Sochi on the Black Sea where Sharapova took her first tennis lessons.

Credit: Guardian

‘You Must Be Banned For Taking Drugs’ – Rafael Nadal & Andy Murray Tell Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova’s male colleagues Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have come hard on the tennis star saying she must be punished and banned from the sport, after she admitted on Monday to failing a drug test in the last Australian Open.

The Russian athlete is set to be provisionally banned from Tennis on Saturday, but the extent of the ban is yet to be unclear, with any suspension above two years effectively ending her career.

But Rafael Nadal who says he has used stem-cell therapy and blood thinning in the past to speed his injury recovery says she must be banned from the sport while Britain’s number one Tennis player Andy Murray says she must be banned for using performance enhancing drugs while also criticizing her racket sponsor, HEADS, for standing by Sharapova.

14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal said:

“I am a completely clean guy. I have never had the temptation of doing something wrong. I believe in the sport and the values of the sport. The sport is an example for society. It is an example for the kids and if I am doing something that goes against that, I will be lying to myself, not lying to my opponents.” “I have been open all my career,” he said. “I never tried to hide nothing that I did. I did PRP and then I did stem cells. The first time with PRP it worked fantastic and the second time it was bad. I had to stop playing tennis for seven months. With stem cells, I used it two times on my knees and it worked very well. I am not doing, never did, and never going to do something wrong.” “It’s terrible because the sport must be clean and must look clean. It is difficult to imagine that something like this can happen, but mistakes happen. She should be punished. I want to believe it is a mistake for Maria. She didn’t want to do it. But obviously it is negligence. She must pay for it.”

Andy Murray said:

“Clearly if you are taking performance-enhancing drugs and you fail a drugs test, you have to get suspended. I think since 1 January there have been 55 different athletes who have failed tests for meldonium. I find it strange that there’s a prescription drug used for heart conditions and so many athletes competing at the top level of their sport would have that condition. That sounds a bit off to me.”

Andy Murray also criticized HEAD, who also manufacture his racket, for standing by Sharapova and saying they will extend her contract despite other sponsors Nike, Tag Heuer and Porsche severing their relationship with the tennis star.

“I think it’s a strange stance given everything that’s happened the last few days. I don’t really know what else to say on that, but that’s not something I believe. I think at this stage it’s important really to get hold of the facts and let things play out, like more information coming out before making a decision to extend the contract like that, in my view. I personally wouldn’t have responded like that.”

Serena Williams To Face Maria Sharapova In Australian Open final

Serena Williams will face Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final after the pair won their semi-finals in straight sets in Melbourne.

World number two Sharapova won an all-Russian contest against Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-2.

Williams, the top seed, converted her ninth match point to beat fellow American Madison Keys 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.

Britain’s Andy Murray takes on Czech Tomas Berdych in the first men’s semi-final at 08:30 GMT.

Williams, 33, capped a fine performance with a dramatic ending as she saw seven match points slip by at 5-1, before converting her ninth with an ace and a scream in the following game.

Keys, 19, matched Williams for power but not always control as the 18-time Grand Slam champion edged a tight match over one hour and 24 minutes.

The world number one, a five-time champion in Australia, recovered from 3-0 down to force a tie-break and clinched it with a big serve.

Maria Sharapova

A fired-up Williams bounced up and down in delight at the baseline, and powered on with a break at the start of the second as she began to dominate the Keys second serve.

Williams flipped a brilliant forehand winner around the net post on her way to breaking again at 4-1 and eventually closed out after that gripping seventh game.

Sharapova, the 2008 champion, had earlier needed one hour and 27 minutes to beat 10th seed Makarova for the sixth time in six meetings.

The 27-year-old coped well on serve after saving two break points in a testing 10-minute opening service game, easing into a 4-1 lead.

Makarova, 26, hinted at a comeback when she broke for 4-3 but Sharapova responded immediately and served out the set after 48 minutes.

When she hammered away a backhand for the double break at 3-0 in the second, there was no way back for Makarova