Emma Raducanu turns down treatment before Australian Open over contamination fears

Fear of ingesting a contaminated substance led British star Emma Raducanu to turn down treatment for an insect bite ahead of the Australian Open.

Speaking ahead of her opening match against Russian 26th seed Ekaterina ­Alexandrova, the 2021 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.

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"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 number one Jannik Sinner tested positive for banned substance clostebol but escaped a ban after an independent tribunal hearing found he bore no fault or negligence.

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.

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Five-time grand slam champion Iga Świątek also escaped a lengthy ban after a tribunal accepted her failed doping test for banned substance trimetazidine had been the result of a contaminated batch of sleeping drug melatonin.

Those cases will remain a hot topic in Melbourne and Raducanu said players have to be extra careful.

"We're all in the same boat. I think it's just how we manage as best as we can the controllables," she said.

"If ­something out of our control ­happens, then it's going to be a bit of a struggle to try and prove."

Reuters

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