Hey everyone:
1) In advance of his first week of work at the USTA, Eric Butorac was our esteemed podcast guest last week. The great Dick Enberg is up next.
2) Lots of questions about Maria Sharapova and her reduced suspension. I tried to address some of them in podcast form here.
Some additional thoughts:
a) While the reasoning was tortured—essentially: Sharapova was culpable but she is not to be blamed—the 15-month ban sounds about right to me. Assuming a pro tennis career is 12.5 years, we’re talking about a ban spanning 10% of that duration; for a first-time offense.