Vondrousova has but to determine whether or not to attraction the ban. Photograph: AFP
LONDON:
Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova insisted she “by no means doped” after an anti-doping watchdog had banned her from tennis for 4 years on Monday.
The Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company (ITIA) blames the 26-year-old Czech for failing to open the door to an anti-doping officer in December 2025.
The 2023 Wimbledon winner claimed in April she was scared when the officer rang the bell “with out correctly figuring out themselves or following protocol”.
“I’ve by no means doped. I’ve by no means had a optimistic take a look at,” she stated on Instagram late on Monday.
“All through my total profession, I’ve undergone numerous anti-doping controls and have at all times stepped onto the court docket with a transparent conscience.
“Simply three days after the incident that finally modified my life, I used to be examined once more. The end result was destructive, similar to each take a look at earlier than it.”
Her lawyer Jan Exner informed AFP on Monday they’d think about an attraction however refused to elaborate.
An impartial tribunal coping with Vondrousova’s case dominated the proof provided “no compelling justification” for the world quantity 122 to refuse the take a look at.
‘Pointing a finger’
“I might not want what I’ve been by way of over the previous few months on anybody. Waking up every single day with uncertainty, worry, and the sensation that you’re shedding management over your individual life is one thing that’s tough to place into phrases,” Vondrousova stated.
“It has been an extremely exhausting and painful interval that affected me much more deeply than I might ever have imagined,” she added.
Throughout her ban, the Czech is just not allowed to play in, coach at, or attend any occasions organised or sanctioned by the ITF, WTA, ATP, the Grand Slams, or any nationwide affiliation.
The Czech information company CTK quoted Vladislav Savrda, the supervisor of Vondrousova’s Prague membership, as calling the decision “nonsensical and scandalous”.
Savrda stated the ITIA slapped the utmost penalty on Vondrousova however handed a lot shorter bans to Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek after they examined optimistic.
“They clearly needed to keep away from a scandal there,” he stated.
“However now they have been gifted this case and wanted to level a finger, and sadly Marketa is paying for this,” added Savrda.
Moreover the Wimbledon crown and one other three WTA Tour singles titles, Vondrousova additionally reached the French Open remaining in 2019 and earned a silver medal within the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
She reached a profession excessive sixth place within the WTA rankings in 2023.
Vondrousova has performed simply two matches on the WTA Tour this yr, withdrawing from the Adelaide Worldwide in January as a result of a shoulder harm.
