Richard Gasquet Cleared

The ITF's independent Anti-Doping Tribunal announced today that it is letting Richard Gasquet off on time served.

Gasquet, who had been suspended since May for a positive cocaine test during the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, had always claimed he had not intentionally used cocaine. His claims that he had likely accidentally picked up trace amounts of it while partying at a Miami nightclub (after having already pulled out of the tournament) were verified in the tribunal's 38-page report.

"By the end of the hearing before us, the expert witnesses were agreed that the quantity was of the order of 1-10 mg, and more likely than not towards the lower end of that range, i.e. 5 mg or less," the report stated.

That is a very small quantity indeed. We were shown a vial containing 1mg of a white powder similar in appearance to cocaine. It was about the size of a single grain of refined salt."

All in all, this is the best possible ending for Gasquet, who has already faced some pretty steep consequences for what now appear to be circumstances not of his own volition. Missing the French Open and Wimbledon (his strongest slam historically), was punishment enough. Hopefully he can put this behind him and get back to doing what he did best: not playing up to his potential.