Jannik Sinner's doping case saga has sparked fear for the 2021 historic US Open champion Emma Raducanu to receive treatment for the insect bites.
According to CNN, the British tennis star and the first qualifier in the history of the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title skipped treatment for insect bites ahead of the 2025 Australian Open over doping concerns.
The 22-year-old told reporters that during the preparation for the tournament, she had been bitten by bugs but decided to “tough it out” without medication because of increasing doping concerns.
Raducanu said, “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board and what we use. Yesterday, for example, I got really badly bitten by ants, mosquitoes, or something. I’m allergic, I guess, so they flared up and swelled up really a lot.”
“Someone was giving me this antiseptic spray, you know, natural, to try and ease the bites, but 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,” added the second runner-up of the 2024 Australian Open.
The doping concerns heightened across the sports after the world no. 1 tennis star, Jannik Sinner, tested positive for prohibited substances after receiving treatment from his physiotherapist.
Although the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that the Italian tennis player was not at fault, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which will be heard between April 16-17, 2025.
