30 seconds ago 2009-12-04T03:24:45-08:00
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) – French tennis player Richard Gasquet appeared at international sport's top court on Tuesday in a hearing on a tougher doping ban demanded by tennis authorities.
The shy-looking 23-year-old declined to comment as he entered the Court of Arbitration of Sport's (CAS) headquarters in Lausanne accompanied by his agent and legal team.
The former world top 10 player tested positive for cocaine during the Miami Masters in March and was provisionally suspended in May before serving a two- and-a-half month retroactive ban.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wanted him to be hit with a ban of one or two years.
But an independent tribunal, appointed by the ITF, allowed him to resume his career in July.
The ITF and WADA both appealed to CAS to press their case for a tougher sanction.
The hearing on the appeal at CAS was expected to last a day, with a decision likely in about a month, an official said.
