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Rafael Nadal to sue former French minister over doping claims

Rafael Nadal says he will sue a former member of the French government over claims he missed eight months in 2012 owing to a “positive doping test”. The 14-time tennis Grand Slam winner said he had had enough of rumours surrounding his time away from the sport and that Roselyne Bachelot had to answer for her spurious claims. The 69-year-old was Minister for Health and Sport between 2007 to 2010 under former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. “A minister of France should be serious,” said Nadal, who reached the third round of the Indian Wells Masters with a 6-2 3-6 6-4 win over Gilles Muller on Sunday evening.

This is going to be the last one, because I’m going to sue her. I am tired about these things. I let it go a few times in the past. Not any more.

Rafael Nadal

She made the allegations about Nadal last week, when addressing Maria Sharapova’s failed drugs test. "When you see a tennis player stopping for months, it’s because there’s been a positive control,“ said the French politician. Nadal, 29, has already spoken out about the speculation surrounding him. Following Sharapova’s admission last week of a failed test, the former world number one said: "I am a completely clean guy.”