Maria Sharapova's Failed Drug Test Sheds Light on How Tennis Players Stay Clean

Maria Sharapova's tennis future may be murky. However, questions surrounding her failed drug test help shed light on how the sport's other players stay clean.

Sharapova announced on Monday she tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, a drug recently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Sharapova told reporters she had been taking the drug for 10 years for various health issues, including heart problems and a family history of diabetes. 

Although meldonium was on WADA's monitored list for over a year, it wasn't prohibited until January 1. Athletes were informed of the pending ban last year. According to Sharapova, she neglected to click on an email link from WADA that included a list of banned substances. 

She called it "an honest mistake."

Since this revelation, other top tennis players have been asked about whether they ignore WADA emails and how they avoid potential pitfalls associated with the forever evolving list of banned substances. 

Most players, including Sharapova, agree it's the athlete's responsibility to know what they are putting in their body. Yet, players on the ATP World Tour and WTA Tour have different approaches to staying clean.

In an interview with ESPN's Jim Caple, Serena Williams said she doesn't take supplements for fear of what might be in them. 

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I don't [take supplements]. I'm terrified, to be honest. It would just be a really bad situation if that was me. Plus, my sister [Venus] went through a lot of illnesses and with her going through that, she was able to introduce me into a really vegan and raw, kind of really vegetable, whole raw world that I really enjoyed. And I was able to see a lot of benefits in my game and my body in general from that.

"

Rafael Nadal told the Guardian's Simon Cambers he trusts his doctor and other members of his team to keep track of banned substances. 

“To be honest I don’t read it (email alerts)," Nadal said. "I have my doctor that I have confidence in. My doctor is the doctor of the Spanish tennis federation for a lot of years. He is the doctor of all the Spanish tennis players so I have full confidence in him. And I never take anything that he doesn’t know."

Petra Kvitova told the New York Times' Ben Rothenberg she doesn't pay attention to the banned list because she steers clear of questionable substances. “I just have my vitamins, so I don’t really have to check it. So I’m not really reading that.”

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Garbine Muguruza admitted to Rothenberg she sometimes gets confused by medical jargon. That's why she depends on her doctor to check the list before she takes anything.

Agnieszka Radwanska told the Associated Press (via Tennis.com) she is super cautious about what she puts in her body. 

''I'm scared because I know every pill can have something (prohibited) in it," she said. "So when I'm sick I'm just taking aspirin because I'm always afraid there's going to be something else in it (medication).''

Belinda Bencic lost to Sharapova in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Although Bencic declined to weigh in on whether she felt cheated, she told Los Angeles Times reporter Helene Elliot she doesn't take chances when it comes to drug testing. 

"Even when you're a little bit sick and take drops against cough, I always check what is inside there and if it's not permitted," Bencic said. 

Nadal told reporters he finds it hard to understand how a player winds up in Sharapova's situation. 

“It is difficult to imagine that something like this can happen. But mistakes happen," he said. "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.”

Nadal went on to push back against rumors he's a drug cheat. When one reporter asked him about rumors, Nadal insisted he has always been clean.

Speaking to media at Indian Wells, Andy Murray told reporters that just because a substance has yet to be banned, that doesn't mean it can't be abused. "If you take a prescription drug that you don't need but just because it is legal, it is wrong. You are just doing it for the performance-enhancing benefits." 

Murray added he finds it hard to believe that of the 55 athletes who have reportedly tested positive for meldonium this year, they'd all have similar heart problems. 

Nadal and Murray believe the silver lining of this doping scandal is it demonstrates how serious the ITF is about cleaning up the sport. 

In the aforementioned interview with the Guardian's Cambers, Nadal explained staying clean is a way players honor the sport. 

“I really don’t know anything about the doping and I am a completely clean guy," he said. "I worked so much during my whole career and when I get injured, I get injured. I never take anything to get back quicker. I believe in the sport and in the values of the sport."