British tennis star Emma Raducanu has said she has suffered swelling to her hand and ankle, believing she was bitten by jumping ants in the buildup to the Australian Open.
Raducanu, speaking to reporters in Melbourne at the season-opening Grand Slam, said she suffered a dilemma over whether to use antiseptic spray after suffering an allergic reaction to the bites, but she decided to “tough it out” as she feared it could lead to an unintentional positive doping test.
Tennis has seen two of its biggest stars Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek test positive for banned substances, with both arguing the results were unintentional. Sinner avoided a ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency determined he was not to blame, while Swiatek received a one-month out-of-competition suspension.
“I basically got bitten really badly, like, by these, I don’t know, like jumping ants or something,” Raducanu said. “So I spent the second part of my day coming in to sign, seeing the doctor to try to get some remedies, because I had a bit of an allergic reaction. But I’m fine now. I’m allergic, I guess.
“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. We’re all in the same boat. I think it’s just how we manage as best as we can the controllables. If something out of our control happens, then it’s going to be a bit of a struggle to try and prove [that a positive test is the result of contamination].”
Raducanu is hoping to put together her best run yet at the Australian Open, where she has only reached the second round in each of the past three years.
The former US Open champion faces Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round and she could meet No. 2 seed Swiatek in the third round should she reach that stage.
