Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova has been banned for 4 years for refusing an anti-doping take a look at final 12 months.
Vondrousova, 26, was charged by the Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company (ITIA) after denying a doping management officer entry to her house to conduct the take a look at in December 2025.
The Czech participant stated in April she feared for her security when the officer referred to as and stated they didn’t observe “protocol”.
However a tribunal decided Vondrousova, who grew to become the primary unseeded participant to win the Wimbledon ladies’s singles title in 2023, supplied “no compelling justification” for refusing a take a look at.
Vondrousova’s suspension will finish on 21 June 2030, however she has a proper to enchantment towards the choice to the Court docket of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
Additionally a French Open finalist in 2019, former world quantity six Vondrousova has not performed competitively since January and dropped to 122nd within the rankings.
In the course of the listening to, Vondrousova defined stress and poor psychological well being had affected her decision-making, along with her security considerations.
ITIA chief government officer Karen Moorhouse stated whereas the company understands the testing course of is “uncomfortable” and likewise acknowledges the extra burden it could actually carry for gamers competing, “it’s important to guard honest competitors”.
Moorhouse added: “Security and welfare of gamers and our testers is basically essential to us. Our testers are well-trained, skilled, and the gender of our testing witness at all times matches the participant.
“They carry ID always, and gamers are capable of confirm their identification in different methods if they’re ever not sure.”
Vondrousova stated she felt scared when the officer approached her door late at evening with out correctly figuring out themselves or following protocol, including: “In that second it was about feeling secure, not about avoiding something.”
The ITIA stated Vondrousova informed the doping management officer she wouldn’t take the take a look at and signed a refusal type when she went exterior to stroll her canine shortly afterwards.
Chatting with a small group of journalists afterward Monday, Moorhouse stated it was “extraordinarily uncommon” for a participant to refuse a doping take a look at.
In 2024, Russian participant Vladislav Ivanov additionally obtained a four-year ban for refusing to take a take a look at throughout competitors.
