Rafael Nadal slams Yannick Noah doping claims
Rafael Nadal has criticised Yannick Noah
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Monday, 21, Nov 2011 01:15
By Neal Wallace
Rafael Nadal has criticised Yannick Noah's claims that the key to Spain's recent sporting success is due to doping.
Talking to newspaper Le Monde, the 1982 French Open champion claimed that "if you don't have the magic potion, it's hard to win", expressing his incredulity that Spain have become dominant "virtually overnight".
However, world number two Nadal, who has won ten Grand Slam titles in his career, criticised the ex-pro, saying his comments were "completely stupid".
"He knows better than anybody that to say that today is a totally stupid thing because you know how many anti-doping controls we have during the season," the Spaniard added.
Noah had been referencing Spain's dominance across a number of sports. Their national football side are the current World Cup and European Championship holders, cyclist Alberto Contador has been crowned winner of the Tour de France three out of the previous five years, while the country's basketball team have won a number of titles recently.
Nadal recently (November 20th) survived a scare to beat Mardy Fish in the ATP World Tour Finals at London's O2 Arena.