The Associated PressWTA event added for quarantining players in Melbourne
The Women's Tennis Association has announced a new tournament in Melbourne for players undergoing a 14-day quarantine without an opportunity to practice ahead of the Australian Open beginning Feb. 8. A total of 72 players remain in hard lockdown after three chartered flights to the Australian Open returned positive COVID-19 cases. WTA players in hard quarantine include former Australian Open champions Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber as well as 2019 U.S. Open winner Bianca Andreescu.
ReutersITF denies Yastremska's application to lift provisional doping suspension
Ukraine's world number 29 Yastremska was provisionally suspended on Jan. 7 after WADA found a banned substance in an out-of-competition urine sample. The 20-year-old provided the sample in November and a WADA lab in Montreal found the presence of mesterolone metabolite, an anabolic agent on its Prohibited List. "An application by Dayana Yastremska to lift the provisional suspension imposed on her on Jan. 7 under Article 8.3.1(c) of the 2020 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme has been denied by the Chair of the Independent Tribunal convened to hear her case," the ITF said in a statement on Saturday.
- The Associated Press
Tennis pro Yastremska denied in bid to lift suspension
The International Tennis Federation on Saturday denied a bid by 29th-ranked Dayana Yastremska to lift a suspension for failing an out-of-competition doping test. The ruling can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport by the 20-year-old Ukrainian. Players at Grand Slam tournaments and events sanctioned by the ITF, ATP and WTA are tested for substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
