Karatantcheva's Father Thinks Ban Will Be Overturned This Week

From Reuters: Coach hopeful over Karatantcheva appeal

Radoslav Karatantchev, the father and coach of Bulgarian tennis player Sesil Karatantcheva, is optimistic that her two-year drugs ban will be overturned on Friday...

"Sesil has a logical explanation for the availability of norandrosterone in her system and we hope that they will understand us," Radoslav Karatantchev told a news conference on Wednesday. "This is sadism from a medical point of view.

"It's well known they seldom change their minds but we believe justice will win," added the former Bulgaria rowing champion...

Sesil Karatantcheva Still Popular in Bulgaria

Apparently being suspended from the WTA Tour for two years for doing steroids and claiming as your excuse that, at 15, you were pregnant at the time does not make you persona non grata in Bulgaria.

Sesil Karatantcheva re-appears in the news this week playing an exhibition tournament with the mayor of Sofia.  Yes, she won.

Karatantcheva Talks to Bulgarian Press

From the Sofia News Agency: Banned Bulgarian Tennis Diva "Decided and Did It"

Bulgaria's tennis hopeful, Sesil Karatantcheva, who was banned from playing for the next 2 years on doping charges, maintained her version of a "health condition" during a televised interview.

"I just decided that I wanted to do it, and I did it, and then things got out of control," Karatantcheva said for private bTV channel, hinting at her alleged pregnancy that had caused the high levels of nandrolone in her blood. She explained that when she took the decision to "do it" she was not aware of certain protection issues and then it just happened.

With these words she more or less affirmed that her defence does indeed base itself on an unsuccessful pregnancy. "You are a man and I do not expect you to understand," Karatantcheva said to the morning talk-show host. "I just wanted to do it, took the decision and did it."

Karatantcheva Will Appeal

Sesil Karatantcheva and her father held what must have been a very bizarre news conference today.  It was all very predictable - she will, of course, appeal her two year ban.

The tribunal's written decision won't be available until January 12 "for legal reasons" the ITF says, with Tennis Week indicating the reason is because Karatantcheva is a minor.

Regardless, the basic facts of the case were confirmed during the press conference. Her defense does involve a pregnancy that later resulted in a miscarriage.  This in spite of the fact the ITF says a pregnancy test was done on her French Open sample and came back negative.

Apparently her father did all the talking about the delicate subject, and Sesil stuck to teenage bravado, declaring that regardless of the outcome of the appeal, "I'll keep training, I'm only 16.  I'll be back, and my return will be thunderous."  I don't think she understands yet the impact this is going to have on her life.

Teenage pregnancy as a doping issue.  There's just something very wrong with this picture but I guess that's for her family to work out.

From the AP: Karatantcheva to appeal her two-year ban for doping

Bulgarian tennis player Sesil Karatantcheva said Thursday she will appeal her two-year doping ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"I will use my right to appeal before a higher authority," the 16-year-old Karatantcheva told reporters in Sofia.

The CAS, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, is the highest court in sports. Its rulings are final and binding...

Karatantcheva Suspended for Two Years

Wow - they gave Sesil Karatantcheva the full two year suspension.  She won't be eligible to return until January 1, 2008. 

The ITF website has a summary of the decision on its site.  She actually tested positive twice - once at the French Open and later in July at an out of competition test.  They rejected all of her defenses, but agreed to treat the two positive tests as one incident.  Imagine - they could have suspended her for four years!

The usual punishments apply - loss of ranking points and prize money earned from the French Open on ($128,897).

The full decision hasn't been posted yet, so we'll have to wait a bit to see what exactly Karatantcheva's defense was and whether it had anything to do with a supposed pregnancy as L'Equipe said.  Then we'll be better able to evaluate the fairness of the decision.

7 Months for Karatantcheva?

Just rumors and speculation here from Bulgaria, but if Sesil Karatantcheva did test positive I'd go along with seven months as a fair punishment.

From the Sofia News Agency: Bulgarian Tennis Starlet May Face 7 Months Suspension

Young Bulgarian tennis star Sesil Karatantcheva may face a seven-month-long suspension if she had really produced a positive doping probe during the Roland-Garros tournament, reports say.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) will probably punish Karatantcheva for the use of banned steroid nandrolone with the same measure that was imposed on Argentinean Guillermo Coria in 2001 when he was caught using this steroid, 7 Days Sport newspaper claims.

This would mean that Karatantcheva could start playing in the next season, the newspaper says, but she would loose all the points gathered since Roland-Garros and pay back all her winnings since then.

L'Equipe Strikes Again - This Time It's After Karatantcheva

Every now and then a tennis story comes out that completely floors me - this is one of them.

From ESPN: Karatantcheva denies report of failed drug test

Bulgarian teenager Sesil Karatantcheva failed a doping test following her loss at the French Open, the French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported Tuesday.

Karatantcheva tested positive for nandrolone after her three-set loss to Russia's Elana Likhovtesa in the May 31 quarterfinals, L'Equipe reported, without citing sources. She was 15 at the time; she turned 16 in August.

L'Equipe also reported that Karatantcheva appeared last week before a panel of three judges appointed by the International Tennis Federation. The newspaper said she told the panel she was pregnant at the time of the test, but later suffered a miscarriage.

Sesil Karatantcheva Videoclip

Eurosport has a videoclip of an interview with Sesil Karatantcheva (about 4 minutes long).  I haven't heard her speak before.  She sounds pretty grounded as well as motivated.  And the age-restriction rules seem to be working for her because even with the limited schedule she's allowed to play she feels like it's about all the tennis she can handle right now.