More diligent than Sharapova

Maria Sharapova got the same email but didn’t click on a crucial link to a list of substances that had been classified or reclassified as banned starting January 1 of this year.

Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and international endorsement darling, defeated Bencic, 7-5, 7-5.

After a straight-sets loss to Serena Williams in the quarter-finals two days later, on January 26, Sharapova tested positive for the drug meldonium.

She had used it for 10 years, she said during a news conference this week, but she hadn’t read that WADA email and didn’t know the drug had been moved to the banned list because of its potential use as a performance-enhancing substance.

Sharapova was provisionally suspended pending an investigation by the International Tennis Federation, which could ban her up to four years.

But that wouldn’t make amends to Bencic or others who played Sharapova while the 28-year-old Russian was cheating, even if Sharapova did it unknowingly and for the general health reasons she cited and not to artificially boost her endurance.

All of the players at Wednesday’s session said they hadn’t heard of meldonium, which is not approved for use in the United States, and all expressed surprise Sharapova had violated the sport’s drug policy.

But he seemed to give the benefit of the doubt to Sharapova, who accepted responsibility for not checking on the drug’s new status.