WIMBLEDON PLAYER IN TEARS AFTER LOSS WHILE ATTEMPTING TO WIPE OUT $250K DEBT

Tara Moore, a former top 100 doubles player, was left in tears after an early exit from Wimbledon, losing the opportunity to offset her legal bills following the overturning of her doping ban. Moore's life took a drastic turn when she tested positive for nandrolone metabolites and Boldenone in Columbia in 2022.

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In December, an independent panel exonerated her, attributing the presence of the banned substances to contaminated meat and ruling that she bore no fault or negligence. The 31-year-old is now burdened with over $255,000 in legal fees after depleting her savings to defend herself.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency has contested the decision, and Moore is awaiting further information on the next steps. Meanwhile, she is saddled with a huge debt after paying for her legal expenses.

She received a Wimbledon doubles wildcard alongside Sarah Beth Grey, but only winning the title would have been sufficient to settle her debts. Her premature departure from Wimbledon will not alleviate her financial predicament, despite the thrill of returning to her home Grand Slam tournament.

"It's been sort of mixed emotions, honestly," admitted the former doubles No. 77 following her defeat to third seeds Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.

"I think there's a lot of times where I'm completely elated and happy that I'm back and then there's other times where, even now I'm getting emotional about it but it's difficult, it's very difficult. You know, it's difficult because I think it means so much to me so I think that coming back and being here is always special," she said, tears welling up.

Despite crowdfunding through GoFundMe and earning around $10,000 from her first-round doubles loss, Moore humorously responded to questions about her legal costs: "Don't make me cry more!". However, she acknowledged that while the money raised through crowdfunding was heartening, it was insufficient against the massive £200,000 bill.

"I think that every little helps. It's something that, it doesn't touch the weight of it because it's over £200,000. It's something that will always be hanging over my head for a very long time," Moore reflected on her financial burden. "I think a lot of the times, people see the aspect of this has come out, you're guilty, and it's very much like you're very guilty until you're proven innocent so you have to stand there and you're like,

"Okay, I know I'm innocent, I know this is something I haven't done. How do I move forward from here? So it's something that has been just awful."

As she gears up for an ITIA appeal, Moore has stopped chasing prize money to offset her legal debts. "The amount of prize money that you earn is so insignificant compared to what I owe to lawyers so I think that over time it's something that I can't look at. I have to look at what's best for my career and how I can best navigate coming back and playing my best tennis," she said.

When her ban from professional events was in place, Moore turned to coaching amateur tennis in the States. She sacrificed "a lot of things" to afford her legal fees, stating: "I worked very, very, very hard. I worked sometimes 10 hours a day on court. It's difficult. Again, it's something that you don't expect.

"And it's something that I had savings, I spent all of my savings. Because obviously I was already 30 so I was thinking, Okay, how much longer can I played tennis? I need to be wise with my investments, I need to be wise with my money and so I saved a little bit of money and it was just gone straight away. I think that for me, looking forward it's finding ways to be able to keep playing because it's not for sure, it's not for certain," she reflected.

The financial strain isn't the only challenge the 31-year-old has faced; she's also struggled with a loss of self. "Obviously the last two years I've gone through just an influx of emotions. Sometimes I'm upset. I was incredibly depressed for a very long time," Moore revealed.

"I think as a tennis player you start at a very young age that you are a tennis player and it's very much your identity so I think that when that's taken away from you, especially when it's not on your terms, it really takes away part of your identity. So trying to figure out who I am as a person outside of tennis, it's been a very long road."

Moore refrained from suggesting specific reforms to the anti-doping system but shared that her 19-month suspension profoundly affected her life. The nine-time ITF champion, who was already meticulous about her diet, has had to become even more vigilant.

"I am just incredibly cautious with everything. Even more so than before, I was already a very cautious person before and you just never think that food is going to really do that to you. Incredibly cautious. [It's] completely changed me," she remarked.

She also added, "You don't think that you're going to eat meat and then test positive for a doping test. I think that these doping tests are so incredibly sensitive that you have to be so careful."

2024-07-04T19:21:54Z dg43tfdfdgfd