Wickmayer quits Bali after doping ban

Reuters - Thu, 05 Nov 21:27:00 2009

Yanina Wickmayer has quit Bali's Tournament of Champions and left the resort island mid-event after receiving a doping ban from Belgian authorities.

Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium - 0

Wickmayer, a semi-finalist at this year's US Open, was handed a one-year ban on Thursday for failing to comply with doping regulations, a report on the Belgium Tennis Federation's website said.

Bali tournament director Kevin Livesey said that Wickmayer had left the island.

She had been due to face Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues in her final group match on Friday, and was well-placed to reach the semi-finals.

The world number 18 was suspended by the Flemish Doping Tribunal after falling foul of the "whereabouts rule", which states that players must notify their national doping agency of where they can be reached on a daily basis.

A WTA statement made available to Reuters on site at the tournament said: "Yanina Wickmayer has been informed of the decision of the Belgian National Anti-Doping Agency and consequently has voluntarily withdrawn from the tournament.

"While the tournament regrets all withdrawals, we support the WADA Code and are committed to following the decisions rendered by national anti-doping agencies."

The World Anti-Doping Agency said on Thursday it had yet to be informed of the suspensions to Wickmayer and fellow Belgian male tennis player Xavier Malisse, who was also sanctioned for missing a drugs test.

The International Tennis Federation, which is responsible for doping controls in tennis, said on Thursday it had not yet been informed and could not comment until it had been notified in writing by the Belgian anti-doping agency.

Reuters

Comment 36 - 55 of 55

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. The ban is ridiculous, and the headline defamatory.

    From Andrew Broad, on Fri 6 Nov 11:10PM

  2. 53, isnt it the case that EPO and other performance­ enhancing substances can disapear within 24hrs? the­ testing regime is harsh, but it needs to be harsh to­ weed out the cheats.

    From ajpbolton, on Fri 6 Nov 4:47PM

  3. How stupid-drugs can disappear from someone's body­ in matter of days or weeks-so it's enough to test­ the players once every month or once during every­ tournament so there is no need to inform anybody on­ where you're going to be every day and have to wait­ for someone to call you and test you-simply stupid.

    From honeybeecro7, on Fri 6 Nov 4:09PM

  4. thanx sanchez i truely post on here just for your­ approval. i can guess what the statement will be­ "...due to the harsh drug testing regime, i have­ failed to turn up to 3 drugs tests(excuse 1- my cat­ died, excuse2-my dog died, excuse 3- my coach decided­ to train elsewhere...) there is absloutley no­ suggestion from any authoirity to say that i have­ failed any drugs test".......blah blah.

    From ajpbolton, on Fri 6 Nov 3:26PM

  5. Idioti svi ovde...

    From Nebojsa, on Fri 6 Nov 3:23PM

  6. I think we should really wait to hear what these two­ players have to say for themselves before rushing to­ conclusions. It is indeed a very tough regime to adhere­ to but wow, how lucrative is their reward for­ succeeding in their chosen profession! I have always­ preached compassion in the case of 'absences'­ of this nature, unless of course there are grounds for­ suspecting that something untoward may be afoot. But­ that would just print money for the lawyers, so best to­ concur with what the experts adjudge to be the best way­ forward.

    From sanchez.santos, on Fri 6 Nov 3:18PM

  7. Nebojsa why should Petar not tell you off in English if­ you must make moronic statements that give serbain­ people a bad name? Don't you think you've come­ to the wrong place?

    From sanchez.santos, on Fri 6 Nov 3:12PM

  8. I thought I was seeing double for a minute there­ ajpbolton, congratulations for at last talking some­ sense. hellodolly pardon me for laughing out loud about­ your post. Was all that true or was it a wind up? If­ true, Yanina and the ITF must have been wondering what­ all the fuss what about Serena.What a world we live in!

    From sanchez.santos, on Fri 6 Nov 3:06PM

  9. by the way the americans watch Espn. not eurosport.­ only us europe asia and africa watch this boring­ channel. i really have to stand the torture reading­ some of the readers stupid comments . that humiliate­ the williams just for the seek of self-satisfaction .­ there are a lot of jealous out here

    From abdurrazeg a, on Fri 6 Nov 2:54PM

  10. english ,americans same @#$%

    From Dimitris, on Fri 6 Nov 2:51PM

  11. who says that b\next year they`ll mention kin and­ hennin . the combination of the grandslams they have­ are 9.
    while williams singles only is 18.numbers speak­ for themselves. serena is number 1 right now and the­ aussi and wimbledone defending champion . she`s going­ to address headlines at least during grandslams.

    by­ the way hennin is wonderful tennis player. same as kim­ . but they`re just wonderful .they are not ­ charismatically known for anybody outside tennis world­ unlike the williams sisters who became a global­ phenomenon . in the middleast they are really become­ inspirational for young tennis athlete

    From abdurrazeg a, on Fri 6 Nov 2:50PM

  12. Nebojša, pogrešno si interpretirao, ni u jednom­ trenutku mi nije bila namera da nešto samo tebi­ poručim. Napisao sam na dva jezika da bi SVI­ koji govore te jezike razumeli poentu. Umesto što meni­ pišeš gluposti, bolje se zamisli nad tim što si u­ startu izjavio.

    From Petar, on Fri 6 Nov 2:49PM

  13. Dmitri. u`re post are really hideous and stupid. change­ ur attitude or get a life

    From abdurrazeg a, on Fri 6 Nov 2:45PM

  14. Was this regulation really meant for combatting doping­ or merely to ambush the players!!! Surely it makes more­ sense to call up anyone for testing anytime of day and­ be done with it. As for post 35 by Nebojsa,the comment­ is the most stupid anyone can make on this issue.Is he­ forgetting that the Belgians NEVER dominated the­ Williams sisters.They have always held their own­ against anyone on the tour,so there is nothing new they­ would bring that would scare the Williamses.As I stated­ in another post,the WTA owes the sisters a load of­ gratitude for holding the fort all this while,while­ some people slunk off.

    From AbiodunS, on Fri 6 Nov 2:44PM

  15. haha! i'm actually an english muslim, and again, do­ you realise how stupid you actually sound?

    From ajpbolton, on Fri 6 Nov 2:15PM

  16. no , but i realaze that you are an idiot american

    From Dimitris, on Fri 6 Nov 1:33PM

  17. Petre, moras se ti malo ulizivati ovde svima, pa si­ morao napisati i na engleskom da te svi razumiju...­ Andjelcic... Da si ti htjeo meni nesto poruciti mogao­ si napisati i na ovom jeziku, ali... Jadno, u svakom­ slucaju...

    From Nebojsa, on Fri 6 Nov 1:33PM

  18. Dimitris, do you realise how stupid your post makes you­ look?

    From ajpbolton, on Fri 6 Nov 1:08PM

  19. just wondering .w-sisters have ever done drug test?

    From Dimitris, on Fri 6 Nov 12:15PM

  20. You are right, Henin and Clijsters are in the­ different­ league...they are "NOT" Wimbledon­ champions like Vee and Ree. :)

    From missgailforcewinds, on Fri 6 Nov 11:41AM
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account