Fear of ingesting a contaminated substance led Britain’s Emma Raducanu to turn down treatment for an insect bite ahead of the Australian Open, which starts on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of her opening round match against Russian 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, the former US Open champion said recent high-profile doping cases had made her wary.
“I got really badly bitten by I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” Raducanu said at her pre-tournament media conference.
“They flared up and swelled up really a lot. Someone was giving me this antiseptic spray, natural, to try to ease the bites. I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t want to spray it.
“I was just left there with my swollen ankle and hand. I was like, ‘I’m just going to tough it out because I don’t want to risk it’. It’s obviously a concern on our mind.”
Tennis was rocked last year when men’s world No.1 Jannik Sinner tested positive for banned substance clostebol but escaped a ban after an independent tribunal hearing found that he bore no fault or negligence.
Emma Raducanu was bitten by insects.Credit: AP
Sinner’s explanation that he had been inadvertently contaminated with the substance by his physiotherapist during a massage was accepted, although the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has appealed against the decision. If WADA’s appeal is successful, the Italian faces the possibility of being banned for up to two years.
That hearing will start on April 16, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Friday.
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