In June, the tennis world was shaken by a very strict decision from the ITIA agency – former world No. 6 and Grand Slam champion Marketa Vondrousova is disqualified for as long as four years for refusing to undergo a doping test.
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The independent tribunal recently released a detailed account of the events, emphasizing that the 27-year-old tennis player had “no valid reasons” to refuse the doping test.
The doping controller knocked on the Czech tennis star’s door on the evening of December 3 last year, but the unexpected visitor was not let in by the tennis player, who later justified her decision by a panic attack she experienced.
The independent tribunal’s report highlights that at that time M. Vondrousova called her agent to ask about doping protocols and sent a rude message to her boyfriend, also a professional tennis player, Andrew Paulson.
“A bitch from doping control is knocking on my door,” she wrote at the time.
Eventually, both parties agreed to meet outside in about 10 minutes when the Czech took her dog out. Then the tennis player reiterated that she would not take the doping test and signed a form confirming this.
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The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) stated in a report that it had no serious grounds to impose a suspension shorter than four years on the Czech who violated the rules.
Moreover, M. Vondrousova’s arguments about a threat to her safety were also rejected. The Wimbledon champion said she was scared by such a late (around 8 p.m.) visit from the doping controller. She did not open the door because it reminded her of the incident involving her compatriot Petra Kvitova in 2016, when an intruder injured the tennis player with a knife.
In the ITIA findings, comparing this case to P. Kvitova’s attack is considered a complete “exaggeration” on the part of the tennis player.
The disqualification of M. Vondrousova, who won a silver medal in singles at the Tokyo Olympics, will last until June 2030.
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