NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Jury selection began Monday in Guillermo Coria's lawsuit against an American nutritional supplement manufacturer, claiming its steroid-contaminated vitamins led to his positive doping test and cost him millions.
In the trial, Coria -- once ranked No. 3 by the ATP -- 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 ATP reduced his suspension from two years to the seven months that he already has served.
Coria, who is from Venado Tuerto, about 200 miles west of Buenos Aires, then climbed way back into the men's tour's 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.
