BRUSSELS (AFP) - US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer and her Belgian compatriot Xavier Malisse were on Thursday handed one-year bans for falling foul of doping regulations, the Belga news agency reported.
Wickmayer, the world number 18, was suspended by the Flemish Doping Tribunal (VDT) for failing to fulfill the controversial "whereabouts rule" while Malisse was also punished for missing a drugs test.
Both players can appeal their suspensions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The suspension was announced despite 20-year-old Wickmayer currently playing in the Tournament of Champions event in Bali where on Friday she would be attempting to reach the semi-finals.
Wickmayer was accused of failing on three occasions to fulfill the ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration and Management System) under which athletes are obliged to tell national anti-doping authorities where they will be at a chosen hour each day for a three-month period.
The sanctions came as a surprise - only last month, it was expected that the two players would escape with just a reprimand.
Malisse, 29, is currently 95 in the world, having been at 19 in 2002. He has won three titles in his career.
Comment 1 - 2 of 2
This is ridiculous, and the headline defamatory. If they're going to treat tennis-players as criminals, why not fit them with electronic tags? And to ban Yanina in the middle of the Bali season-ending championships is utterly classless and cruel.
Found it strange how Wickmayer came from no-where to reach semi final at us open and suddenly progress in later half of season.
Malisse should just retire he is a has-been.
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