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** Masha News and Articles! ** Vol. 3

390K views 6K replies 244 participants last post by  tejmeglekvár 
#1 ·
Hi everyone :wavey:

Thought maybe we could use a thread here to post all the news, interviews, and articles we find on Masha. :)

I just got my new Tennis Week magazine and Maria is on the cover again (she was also on the March cover). :eek:

If they haven't been posted already, I'll scan in the pics and article and post them here later.
 
#3,052 ·
Ugh, I still can't come to terms and peace with this. I refuse to believe that someone so meticulous in organizing and managing her entire career could allow something like this to happen to her.

And I cannot deny that it is some shady stuff. I have no doubt in my mind that all the professional tennis players (and not just them) take some legal stuff, because there is just no way that the human body can sustain those grueling efforts for prolonged periods of time without some sort of support. That being said, although this shit is not PDA, it does have some positive effects when it comes to endurance, because of the way it treats the underlying issues that it is prescribed for. I don't blame her one bit for taking it for those 10 years, but seeing as how it was never FDA approved, and was on the watch list for the entirety of 2015, it's unbelievable that she and her team managed to be that ignorant about that
 
#3,055 ·
I doubt she would be banned for 4 years. Plus, she said that she doesn't want her career to end this way. I'm sure when she comes back, whenever that may be, she'll be more motivated than ever.

Also, there's nobody else who would be better at damage control. I'm sure there are steps her team are taking to rectify this whole debacle. Maybe appear on Jimmy Fallon? IDK. :lol:
 
#3,056 ·
I'm wrecked. Still can't get over this but I will always love and support Maria no mater what.
 
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#3,057 ·
Personally, I think she'll get a six month ban, which is not that bad, but it comes in the worst possible part of the season. Anything less seems unlikely to me. And unfortunately, then we can say goodbye to the Olympics. Imagine how devastating this must be for Maria :tears:
 
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#3,059 ·
Idk if its posted already but

INTERVIEW WITH MARIA'S ATTONEY
http://www.si.com/tennis/2016/03/07/maria-sharapova-failed-drug-test-john-haggerty-attorney

I dont think this seems that bad tbh. if its proven that she took the drug only because of her health issues PLUS the fact that it only became banned in january. Im kind of mad that this was allowed to happen to her. I honestly dont think she would take a PED knowing the risks of detection coupled in with the regularity that tests are done.
 
#3,093 ·
Even if it's 12 more months, which sounds like the best case instead of 2-4 years, that still might be too long for her to salvage a career where she's top 10 material. Injuries have basically banned her from tennis for the past 8 months and then you have to add another year to that? That will mean 3 tournaments played in 20 months and she'll be going on 30 years old when she steps onto a competitive tennis court again in 2017. I just don't see how it's possible for her to just pick up where she left off and have good form after so much time lost.

Her ranking will be in the toilet and she'll be facing competition who hasn't missed the past 2 years. It's not like Maria's tennis was setting the world on fire the past couple of years anyway, fighting several injuries and shoddy play. Now you add this long suspension on top of that and it's only going to erode her remaining skill. I have no doubt that Maria's stubbornness and pride will lead her back on the court again, even if it takes 2 years. She sounded determined not to have this embarrassment be the lasting image of her career. But when she finally does play again, let's say next year, I don't see her being a top 10-level player. She'll fight with all she has as always, but I think it will be a huge struggle to win with any consistency and it will be kind of sad to watch. Comebacks are really hard in this sport, especially if you happen to be aging.

That's just how I see things potentially playing out for her, in my usual negative fashion. A slow melancholic fade of a great career. But I'm sure many others will envision a rosier future for her.
 
#3,063 ·
Actually, the silence has been staggering, not just from other players, but from journos (at least those that I follow) as well. I expect every single top player to get asked about this in their IW pressers though
 
#3,064 ·
I am heart-broken... This is gonna hit me hard in the next days I think..

Regarding health-issues - there is one small problem.. according to the Russian instructions for use (smpc =summary of product characteristics) mildronate as a drug is prescribed for: "combined therapy of ischemic heart disease (stenocardia, myocardial infarction, chronic cardiac decompensation, and dyshormonal cardiomyopathy); acute and chronic disturbances of brain blood supply (cerebral strokes, and chronic cerebral circulatory insufficiency); haemophtalm and haemorrhages in retina of various aetiology, thrombosis of retina central vein and its branches, retinopathy of various aetiology (diabetic, hypertensive);
AND
decreased working efficiency, physical overstress, including in sportsmen; abstinence syndrome in case of chronic alcoholism (in combination with specific alcoholism therapy)"
-for Maria it was the latter - decreased working efficiency, physical overstress, including in sportsmen; - but that is/WAS the use in the countries in which that medicine was allowed, legally registered, approved.. In USA it was never approved if I got it right.. which means she got treated by a Russian doctor.
WADA had that drug under close monitoring during 2015, in 2016 it added it on the negative list - because of it's PED effects..

The main question to Maria and her doctor will be - wha was the diagnosis that the doctor prescribed her the drug to? and how she got it in USA?

Seriously this won't do her any good at any level.. And I want to punch a wall.

here is the Smpc: MILDRONATE (capsule)
here are articles about the drug: mildronate - PubMed - NCBI
 
#3,075 ·
Yes.

As for the drug that ended up being her undoing, the only thing problematic that I take from all of this is that it's not approved in the US where she lives. I have no doubt that's because they have their own version of it, considering it's not profitable to import it all the way from Latvia where it's produced (plus there might even be some politics involved, considering it's an ex-SSSR country), but still... :unsure:
 
#3,068 ·
The more this sinks in the more I'm struggling to deal with it. Even if she comes back after the ban it's going to be difficult. With the fans, the media... The questions and questioning about her whole career! Now I'm starting to understand that a retirement isn't such a bad idea in this situation
 
#3,071 ·
I know I shouldn't have read SS because I know they wouldn't have kept it classy but I was totally shocked at what I was reading. What a bunch of nasty, vile, spiteful people. I have never read such awful stuff.

OK back on topic. I'm still struggling to deal with this sad situation.
 
#3,072 ·
I've said it before, they are disgusting animals. They have unwarranted hate of Maria I don't understand. Actually I do understand why. But that's for another day. most of them are the scummiest of tennis fans.
I just hope the ban isn't more than a year. I'd love for her to play olympics but idk. What a shitty year.
 
#3,074 ·
Maria :hug::hug::hug:



It`s no big deal really at all
The medicine was LEGALLY until January of 2016
Maria (and her team) just made a small mistake. It could happen to anyone

I support Maria 100 %
 
#3,083 ·
atominside wrote the words with a grain of salt.. seriously she didn't use it for any serious medical condition.. the doctor gave it to her for what I wrote a few posts ago.
 
#3,092 ·
He was saying that if she acknowledged in her forms that she was on it that the WTA or the ITF, someone, probably owed her a call like "hey girl you're taking this. Stop January 1."

That podcast just added to my list of questions though. Tarango made a good point in saying that she could apply for a TUE (therapeutic use exemption) because she's claiming that she took them for health reasons. But instead she's taking the ban. If Tarango's right then either her lawyer's a moron or she's lying.

The rough part is that she started taking it when she was either 18 or 19. So she was a kid and these decisions were likely made by someone else. That's fucked.
 
#3,087 ·
Nobody was expecting this..

Something that bothers me is: why her or her staff, left this pass unseen? It's not like she was using this medicine for a couple of months, was ten years.. They don't need to know the entire list, just focus on things she uses regularly.. That's so... amateur..
 
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