ITF denies Yastremska’s application to lift provisional doping suspension

Tennis – WTA Premier 5 – Italian Open – Foro Italico, Rome, Italy – September 18, 2020 Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in action during her third round match against Romania’s Simona Halep Pool via REUTERS/Clive Brunskill

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has denied Dayana Yastremska’s application to lift a provisional doping suspension imposed on her by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

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.

Yastremska denied using performance-enhancing drugs and said the positive test was the result of a “contamination event”.

She had travelled to Melbourne for the Australian Open, scheduled to begin on Feb. 8., after applying to have her provisional suspension lifted.

The ITF said its latest decision is subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport by Yastremska, WADA and the National Anti-Doping Center of Ukraine.