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Doomed Man Playing
Accused Puerta walks the gangplank
Argentine in uncomfortable limbo
By Chris Bowers, Special to TennisReporters.net
Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com |
| Mariano Puerta can't answer drug questions É because they cannot be asked. |
FROM THE TENNIS MASTERS CUP SHANGHAI – A few years ago the movie "Dead
Man Walking" made the public aware of a saying used by officials
of prisons housing inmates facing death sentences. Those at the Tennis
Masters Cup might paraphrase that to "Doomed Man Playing" to
describe the cloud under which Argentina's Mariano Puerta is competing.
It should have been a triumphant moment for Puerta, the man who came
back from a nine-month ban imposed in 2003 for testing positive for
a banned substance to reach this year's Roland Garros final, and, for
Argentina which today became the first nation since the US at the
old New York Masters in 1989 to have four players in the eight-man
field for the year-ending finale. (The US actually had five players in
1989.). When Rafael Nadal pulled out with an injury to his
left foot, which is still baffling the doctors 22 days after the injury,
Puerta was in.
And yet there was a sense that, despite everyone being terribly nice
to him, this was a man they'd rather not have had at the party. When
the official photographs were taken on Saturday, Puerta and the second
reserve Fernando Gonzalez were both present, but asked not to appear
among the eight. Puerta played down the significance of that decision,
but he's had to do a lot of playing down of late, having been placed
in a position that no one could find anything but hopelessly unsatisfactory.
For Puerta is under suspicion of having tested positive a second time
and, if that were to be the case, he would face an automatic life ban.
No more competitive tennis. The problem is that no one can talk about
it, at least not publicly. In fact no one should even know about it,
because the tennis anti-doping process – that is pretty strict and
falls largely in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency code – guarantees
absolute confidentiality until the process has run its full course.
But somehow, the French sports daily L'equipe got hold of the "information" that
Puerta had tested positive for a banned substance at this year's French
Open and published it. Because the penalty is so severe, the ATP
and ITF, who organize the Tennis Masters Cup, cannot say anything,
nor can Puerta. It's not even "case not yet proven;" as
far as the tennis authorities are concerned, there is no case. And
while that goes on, Puerta can continue to play. But he does so under
the cloud that the tennis world cannot believe a reputable paper like
L'equipe would have published such a story without being sure
of its facts, as getting it wrong would land it with an enormous legal
bill.
Puerta looked ring rusty in his 6-3, 7-5 loss to Gaston Gaudio, but
extremely practiced in his post-match news conference at fending off
questions he's not allowed to answer. "Are you aware or have you
been told that there could be a procedure pending on you?" came
the first question. "I don't know," responded Puerta. "Can
you say something about the psychological situation in your head about
playing the Masters Cup with the doping business?" came the next
one. "He's not going to answer questions about that issue," interjected
the ATP moderator.
So the journalists tried different tacks. "How difficult is it
to play this tournament in this situation in general?" Puerta
skilfully interpreted that as referring to his late notice; he learned
at 5pm on Monday that he would be playing at 8.30pm. "Do you consider
yourself lucky this year or sometimes a little bit unlucky?" Puerta
replied,"I've worked very, very hard this year for what I've
achieved." And, so it went on, until eventually the press decided
they weren't going to get anything out of the beleaguered player.
When it will all end is unclear. The question can't be answered, because
it can't be asked. There is, after all, no question of anything as
far as public utterances are concerned. The "Puerta case" has
suggested to tennis watchers that the time between drug testing and
the completion of the process in cases of positive results has to be
shorter. But, with a man's livelihood at stake, no one can afford to
get it wrong; so, it takes time.
Hopefully, by the Australian Open,
Puerta will know whether he is doomed and has no future in tennis, or free
from the innuendo that has dogged what ought to have been the most
satisfying year of his career. |
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