adminnecessary as some substances can’t be discovered right now but might in the future, and that risk of discovery can chase cheaters away,” the 31-year-old Swiss said on the opening day of the World Indoor Tournament in Rotterdam.
“But there also should be more blood tests and out of competition controls in tennis,” he added.
According to figures on the International Tennis Federation website (www.itftennis.com), sport’s governing body carried out only 21 out-of-competition blood tests in the professional game in 2011.
Cycling’s governing body the UCI carried out more than 3 314 out-of-competition blood tests in the same year.
The UCI introduced biological passports in 2008 to track any blood changes in riders against an original profile which could mean they had taken illegal substances.
“I didn’t get tested on blood after the Australian Open and I told the responsible people over there that it was a big surprise for me,” said Federer, who lost to Briton Andy Murray in the semi-finals.
“But there also will be more funding needed to make all the tests possible and the Grand Slam tournaments should help to finance that as it is in their best interest to keep the sport clean and credible.”
Federer said he had the impression that his sport was clean.
“The past years we had something like one case a year and often it had to do with unintentional mistakes made by players,” he said.
“But even then they should not make those mistakes and know the rules and live by them.”
Defending champion Federer begins his quest for a third Rotterdam title against Slovenian Grega Zemlja today.
Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal’s worst defeat on a clay-court for nine years offered ammunition to the nay-sayers but the Spaniard says his recovery from knee injury should be judged over time.
The seven-times French Open tennis champion’s narrow loss to Argentine world No. 73 Horacio Zeballos in Vina del Mar on Sunday was rightly regarded as a shock as Nadal’s defeats on clay over the past eight years can be counted on two hands.
Even those rare reversals have come against players of the calibre of Federer and, most notably Novak Djokovic in 2011 and the last time he lost to a player outside the world’s top 20 on clay was five years ago in Rome when former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero got the upperhand.
You have to go back to Palermo in 2004, before Nadal had won his first French title, to find the Spaniard losing to one of the game’s journeymen, Frenchman Olivier Mutis who was then ranked outside the top 100.
Zeballos, who had never won a title before, played admirably but Nadal was clearly not firing on all cylinders despite reaching the final without dropping a set.
The analysis began immediately afterwards with all eyes focussed on Nadal’s movement for signs of the left knee problems that meant he had not played since a shock defeat at Wimbledon last year to Lukas Rosol.
Worryingly for Nadal’s million of fans, the 26-year-old openly admitted the knee was still causing him pain.
“The knee is still bothering me, but you have to face adversity with the best possible face and look forward to keep working and enjoy what I like the most, to play tennis,” world No.5 Nadal said on the ATP website.
Whether or not the pain is just the result of not playing competitively for so long, or something more serious, remains to be seen but Nadal was clearly relieved that he could compete at a high level in the nine matches he played in six days, including doubles.
“A week ago we didn’t know how the body would respond,” the 11-times grand slam champions said.
“At least now I know we can compete at a certain level.
“I think that was a positive week.
“I will try to keep improving my physical sensations day by day, which is the most important thing because I don’t feel that my tennis level is bad. I need more time on court.”
Nadal’s defeat was only his fifth in 41 claycourt finals with the others coming against Federer and Djokovic.
“I was two points away from winning the title.
“But I said from first day that the result was not the most important thing, although I would’ve liked to win,” he said.
“To win four matches in a row is good news for me.”
Nadal moves on to Sao Paulo this week for an indoor claycourt tournament and after a week off completes his south American comeback in Acapulco, Mexico.
Those two tournaments may offer a more reliable guide as to the chances of Nadal reaching peak form in time for the European claycourt swing in which he did not lose a match last year. – SuperTennis.
Online Reporter