Completely Broken Marketa Vondrousova Scared of ITIA’s ‘Unlimited Power’ That ‘Destroys’ Players’ Careers

Marketa Vondrousova is left with no option but to approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to challenge the verdict of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). Vondrousova is slapped with a four-year ban by the ITIA for refusing an anti-doping test last December.

The tennis ace got scared when a stranger, a female doping control officer, came to her apartment around 8 pm for an out-of-competition drug test. Vondrousova, who claims she suffers from severe anxiety, acted on impulse when the officer told her to sign the refusal form, when the former World No.6 refused the test.

The 2023 Wimbledon champion, however, said during her interview with iSport that the doping control officer came to test a tennis player for the first time and did not follow the protocol, which is to show her ID card and ask the player to show her’s. She also revealed that the officer admitted the same during the trial session. Vondrousova believes that had the officer followed all the protocols, things would have turned out differently.

On Monday, after the verdict was announced, I was completely broken. Now I feel that I have to fight not only for myself, but for the principle. I would really like it to turn out well, and it turns out that we were telling the truth all along.

This is the fourth time since 2022 that a doping scandal sent shockwaves across the tennis world. Vondrousova thinks the ITIA wanted to “prove their power on her“ after being criticized heavily for their “soft approach” toward Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek‘s doping cases.

When the commissioner basically failed the interrogation and couldn’t answer half of the questions, we left the hearing with a good feeling. And then comes such a punishment. Maybe we were too optimistic, but after all this, I definitely am not. What scares me the most is their unlimited power and the absolute calm with which they destroy people’s lives.

Marketa Vondrousova added

Both Swiatek and Sinner escaped a lengthy ban after a lot of drama, and the ITIA faced allegations of providing preferential treatment to the two high-profile players. Both players failed the drug test in 2024. Sinner, twice in March, and Swiatek, in August.

Also in March of the same year, Simona Halep made her comeback from her nine-month ban. For testing positive for Roxadustat after accidentally consuming it, ITIA handed her a four-year ban, but she appealed before the CAS and won the case.

Marketa Vondrousova says the doctor told her she was lying about her anxiety issues

Marketa Vondrousova claimed the ITIA only pretends to care about the safety or mental health of the players when, in reality, they simply don’t care. Her lawyer warned her that the doctor would call her to question her about her mental state.

But no one called me for seven months. And then the same doctor comes to court and says I’m lying. And then when asked why he didn’t even talk to me, he replied: ‘I don’t need it, I just read the papers.’ That was terrible. That’s not how a professional assessment of a mental state can work.

Marketa Vondrousova said during her interview with iSport

She felt the worst part of the whole thing is getting the label of a doper. Vondrousova, who was last seen in action at the Adelaide International, last won a title at last year’s Berlin Open.

Back in 2023, she defeated Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final to clinch her career’s first Major title. The 26-year-old also made the final of the 2019 US Open, losing to Ash Barty.

Also read: Darren Cahill Reveals Some Silent Details About Jannik Sinner’s Character off the Tennis Court