NJ Steroid Trial Set to Begin, By: Rebecca Santana

6/18/07

Jury selection began Monday in the case of a pro tennis player who is suing a New Jersey supplement manufacturer, claiming its steroid-contaminated vitamins led to his positive drug test and cost him millions.

In the trial, Guillermo Coria - once ranked No. 3 worldwide - is asking a jury to award him more than $10 million for lost prize money and endorsements.

Besides lost earning potential, Coria also hopes to clear his name.

According to Coria's attorney, Will Nystrom, his client was 19 when he was suspended in July 2001 after a urine test turned up positive for steroids while he was playing at a tournament in Barcelona, Spain.

Nystrom said the only supplement that Coria was taking was a multivitamin made by Universal Nutrition of New Brunswick, so his family decided to have the vitamins tested in a lab.

After the lab found the multivitamins to be tainted with steroids, the Association of Tennis Professionals, the governing authority for men's tennis, reduced his suspension from two years to the seven months that had already passed.

Coria, who is from Venado Tuerto, about 200 miles west of Buenos Aires, then battled his way up into the top rankings, making it into the Top 10 in 2003, 2004 and 2005, his lawyer said.

After Coria's lawsuit was filed in 2003, Nystrom said Universal Nutrition admitted in court that it made products containing steroids and multivitamins on the same machines on the same day at its factory. Coria's lawyers said the company also does business under the name Universal Protein Supplement Corp.

Michael Rockoff, vice president for Universal Protein Supplement Corp., declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by The Associated Press on Monday. He referred all questions to the company's lawyer.

Coria's lawyers said the positive steroid test led to lost bonuses and endorsements.

After the 2005 season, injuries have kept Coria out of the Top 100, and he didn't play in the just-concluded French Open.