The former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova from the Czech Republic was banned for four years because of a refused doping test last December. The International Agency for Tennis Integrity (ITIA) announced this on Monday.
“According to the anti-doping rules, the penalty for a player who refuses to be tested must be the same as that which would have been imposed if she had tested positive”the ITIA explained in a press release. The ban applies until June 21, 2030.
Vondrousova said in April that in the situation in question, after physically and mentally difficult months, she refused to be checked into her Prague apartment out of fear. She found it stressful that someone she didn’t know “asked to enter my living room without identifying myself”.
Fear at the front door
The former world number six referred to a case involving her compatriot Petra Kvitova, who suffered a career-threatening hand injury in 2016 when she opened the door to a stranger armed with a knife.
Vondrousova, who surprisingly triumphed at Wimbledon in 2023 as an unseeded player, canceled her participation in the Australian Open in January due to a shoulder injury and has been sidelined since then. As the ITIA announced, the 26-year-old now has the right “to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport”.
“Protect competition”
“We understand that the testing process is inconvenient and recognize that it places an additional burden on players whose jobs already involve high pressure and strict scrutiny.”Karen Moorhouse, executive director of the ITIA, was quoted as saying: “But it is essential to protect fair competition.”
