Richard Gasquet appeared before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland on Tuesday to defend his contaminated-by-a-cocaine-kiss excuse before a panel of lawyers. The World Anti Doping Agency and the International Tennis Federation are appealing an independent tribunal’s decision that allowed Gasquet to return to tennis after being side-lined for just 2 1/2 months [...]

What’s coming out of the taps in Basel? Whether it’s Lindt chocolate or clean, crisp natural spring water, we have three Swiss players into the Basel quarterfinals on Friday. The last and only other time Basel saw three Swiss in the quarterfinals was eight years ago, when Federer, George Bastl and Michel Kratochvil made it [...]

Today is Martina Hingis’s 29th birthday and the last day of her two-year drug suspension. Jon Wertheim has an interesting interview with her posted on the Sports Illustrated website. Click here to read it if you haven’t already (yes, she answers the comeback question.)
Here’s what really got to me:
The amount (of cocaine metabolite found in [...]

Rafael Nadal plays Richard Gasquet in a tough first round match at the US Open. If you’re nervous about Rafa’s chances, his comments from today’s press conference should make you feel better:
Q. How are your knees feeling? How are you more generally physically? Are there any other problems you’re dealing with?
RAFAEL NADAL: Hopefully not, no. [...]

Sunday was Practice Day at the US Open, which gave fans the opportunity to watch the pros prep for the big tournament. Some of the top stars practiced out-of-view on Arthur Ashe, but there was still plenty to gawk at on the side courts.
It was especially nice to see Richard Gasquet back on the court [...]

First it was Mariano Puerta’s wife, now it’s “Pamela,” Gasquet’s one-night-fling. Why are we ladies always blamed for besmirching the honor of the ATP?
Tennis.com’s Peter Bodo shared the full ITF report from Richard Gasquet’s anti-doping tribunal. Long story short, the tribunal said Gasquet’s cocaine use “occurred in circumstances in which the degree of his [...]

Richard Gasquet has been given “time served” for testing positive for cocaine in March, and is free to return to tour immediately.
From the AFP this morning:
PARIS (AFP) — France’s Richard Gasquet, who tested positive for cocaine during the Miami Masters in March, was handed a two-and-a-half month suspension on Wednesday, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) [...]

Tennis player Mathieu Montcourt, ranked # 119, was found dead outside his Paris apartment at about 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Preliminary autopsy reports show that the 24-year-old player suffered a cardiac arrest. Further tests for any drugs or medicines in Montcourt’s body have been carried out, with results expected this weekend. (via Reuters.)
His colleague Rafael [...]

Tough new anti-doping controls will be in effect at this year’s Roland Garros.
From Le Monde (click here for the original, my translation):
“This year, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, like all players who compete at Roland Garros (May 24 to Sunday June 7) will not only be subject to traditional anti-doping controls by the International Tennis [...]

There’s been lots of fun and bizarre news items lately that haven’t quite warranted a full post. So I thought I’d put them all together into my second tennis goodie bag. Enjoy! (And don’t worry, it won’t rot your teeth.)
First Serena Williams is trash talking Safina as second best (click here), now she’s haranguing the [...]

The AP reported today that Richard Gasquet has been officially suspended from competition after testing positive for cocaine in Miami.  He will be off the tour at least until the ITF holds an anti-doping tribunal on the matter, which could take up to 60 days to arrange.  This means Richard Gasquet will definitely miss Roland [...]

Scroll down for UPDATES on Gasquet’s and the French Federation’s responses.
Oh la la, we have une situation!
Richard Gasquet, the enigmatic prince of French tennis, has reportedly tested positive for a controlled substance.
Here’s the scoop from L’Equipe (my translation – click here for the original.) Thanks to SI reporter Jon Wertheim for the Twitter-heads up:
09/05/2009 19:59 [...]