However, Vondrousova will be forced to watch from the wings when the third Grand Slam of the year arrives on Monday, June 29. The 26-year-old hasn’t picked up a racket in a professional capacity since January, her future in the sport hanging in the balance as a result of refusing to take a drugs test. After seven long months of trying to clear her name, a verdict confirmed the worst earlier this week – a four-year ban from the sport.
Speaking to the Times in the wake of having her world flipped upside down, Vondrousova described the punishment as unimaginable. She said: “For me, it’s career-ending.
“I’m 27 [on Sunday]. It’s not like you are 19 or whatever. Overall, four years, it’s the craziest thing. Even with the facts and the things we know, it was even more hard because I spent the whole day at the tribunal, I saw everything, I heard everything. We have so many points we can show and know the truth. Four years, nobody could imagine it.”
Vondrousova also disputes the ITIA’s versions of events as to how her refusal to take a doping test come about. It is claimed that her home was visited at 8.15pm one night in December, with the tennis star signing a form to acknowledge that she had refused to submit a sample.
However, Vondrousova alleges that at no point did the agent visiting her residence show an official ID, claiming that she was fearful after anxiety issues that had been officially diagnosed by two specialists in the mental health field.
In favour of a “clean sport,” a number of Vondrousova’s peers have came out in support of the Czech national, with Ajla Tomljanovic calling the ITIA a “disgrace.” Vondrousova added: “We don’t want anybody who cheats or takes something. We need this system.
“But I’m here with a four-year ban and I wasn’t positive. I didn’t have anything in my blood ever, so it’s tough. And in this you just feel you are so small. It’s just like this big monstrous organisation and you are just saying the truth.
“For them, it’s just me. I’m this small. But for me, it’s my whole career. I was playing since I was a small kid. It’s my name, it’s my reputation. Now it’s like, Marketa is the one with the four-year ban. She’s the doper. And it’s like they just don’t care what you have to say.”
Vondrousova will not decide whether to appeal the ITIA’s decision via the Court of Arbitration for Sport when the panel publishes its final findings. That could come as a lenghty and costly endeavour, considering she has already spent over £200,000 trying to clear her name.
An official statement from the ITIA read: “The panel decided the sanction based on the rules which set out that four years is the starting point for refusing a test. No one at the ITIA takes any joy from this case or the decision. We urge players to talk to us if they have questions or concerns about any aspect of the anti-doping rules.”