Don't you think she is the epitome of the modern athlete? Enough talent to be one of the best few in the world but not in the 'great' category. Little or no personality. But with looks on her side (if you like that sort of thing) and a PR team behind her she doesn't have to be great to make millions of dollars. I don't like to say it, but there aren't as many characters in sport as there used to be. Perhaps we have got what we deserve. The financial stakes are so high and the public scrutiny so intense that we will inevitably get robotic performers who don't do or say anything for fear of damaging their image or upsetting their sponsors. The finances are also such that the temptation to cheat must be strong because the rewards are so great. I can't stand Sharapova myself. To me she is the embodiment of what has become boring about high end glossy sport, although she isn't alone by a long stretch. Whether she was deliberately cheating or not I don't know, but the whole episode certainly stinks to high heaven. I find her explanation very hard to believe. The nature of her press conference annoyed me more than the thought that she might have been cheating. My guess is that her carefully staged campaign will get her a much reduced ban - maybe 12 months instead of the guideline 4 years. Tennis has a tough decision. It has to clean itself up but she is very high profile and they know it as well as she does. Watch that space.