Tennis players on edge after Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek doping cases

LONDON – As Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek prepare for the new season after a year in which they fell foul of doping rules, positive drug tests due to contamination are a genuine fear for many of their fellow professionals.

The star duo spent small fortunes on quickly proving how the banned substances had entered their systems but other players, many who do not have huge financial resources at their disposal, are understandably jittery.

“A lot of the players I know are quite apprehensive,” former US Open champion Emma Raducanu said.

“Everything we take, we’re aware of the situation and how easily things can be contaminated. There are certain supplements that I may want to take, but I can’t take them because they’re sold over the counter and not batch tested.”

The Briton said it costs over US$1,000 (S$1,350) to batch test supplements.

Russian former world No. 5 Andrey Rublev echoed Raducanu’s comments, saying that he was “super afraid” to ingest anything he was not absolutely sure about.

London-based academic Andrea Petroczi, who is involved in research on anti-doping, said surveys showed increasing concerns among elite athletes around the world about doping violations caused by contamination.

“(They) expressed fear and anxiety about unintentionally violating anti-doping rules that could have grave consequences on their reputation, careers and livelihoods,” she said.

Many athletes take precautions, Petroczi added, including meticulously checking medications, avoiding any unnecessary treatments and relying on third-party-tested supplements.

Some go as far as maintaining logs and avoiding certain foods in specific countries, but they understand that even the highest levels of vigilance cannot completely eliminate the risk of contamination or environmental exposure.

“Importantly, it’s also crucial to acknowledge that the resources and strategies required for this level of vigilance aren’t universally accessible,” said Petroczi, a professor of public health at Kingston University.

“There is a clear ‘Global North/Global South’ divide, with disparities in education, resources and support systems, leaving many athletes more vulnerable.”

Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing after he was able to satisfy doping authorities that trace amounts of the anabolic agent clostebol in his system came from his physiotherapist during massages.

An appeal against that verdict by the World Anti-Doping Agency, however, means that the Australian Open and US Open champion still has a potential ban of up to two years hanging over his head.

Swiatek accepted a one-month ban after a positive test for the banned substance trimetazidine, which she said was the result of contamination of her sleep medication.

The world No. 2 told Polish television station TVN24 that she had spent US$70,000 on a lawyer and just over US$15,000 on expert opinions in her defence of the case.

Since the International Tennis Integrity Agency began handling anti-doping in addition to anti-corruption from 2022, Sinner and Swiatek’s cases are the highest-profile players to be investigated by the agency, as both were world No. 1s when they failed tests.

Rublev has also called for some relaxation of the rules.

“Of course you want to have a clean sport,” he said.

“But you also want (it to be) not so strict because then you make all the tennis players so afraid that even those situations (that are not your fault) cost you a year.” REUTERS