Holger Rune reveals how many times he has been drug tested this year
The tennis world has been rocked by revelations of Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek failing drug tests in 2024, with the initial verdict on their cases also sparking a big debate.
World No 2 Swiatek accepted a ban of one month – the majority of it served secretly as a provisional suspension – after testing positive for the angina drug trimetazidine.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted it was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medication melatonin, with the company that supplied the drug used to aid sleeping issuing an apology for the contamination.
The Swiatek news came only three months after men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner was cleared of any fault over two positive tests in March, with those failures also not announced at the time.
These two stories high-profile will have sent shockwaves through the men’s and women’s locker rooms on tour and now world No 13 Holger Rune has given his views on the hottest topic in tennis.
Rune is set to take part in the UTS Grand Final in London this weekend and as he spoke to the media ahead of the lucrative exhibition tournament, he admitted he has been the subject of relentless doping tests over the last year.
“We had a lot of doping control this year,” said Rune. “Before the Olympics this year, I had around 20 (test) and that is a lot, but they are doing everything to keep the sport clean, which is very, very important.
“I take a lot of care about the supplements I take like every player, but it can be unfortunate or it can be something else (if you test positive).
“Personally, I always take care of what I eat and drink. If I leave a drink anywhere, I never pick it up again. You have to protect yourself where you can to make sure I can do what I can to do what I love and that’s play tennis every day.
“I do blood tests maybe once a year to see what my body needs more of, but that’s too personal to talk about. It’s things like vitamin C when you get sick and you need more of that.”
While Swiatek’s doping nightmare appears to be over after the contamination of her sleeping product was confirmed, the story for Sinner is very different.
The Italian is facing the renewed threat of a ban after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) launched an appeal against a ruling of “no fault or negligence” for two positive tests he returned in March.
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The tribunal accepted Sinner’s explanation that the banned substance entered his body as a result of a massage from his physio, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat a cut on their finger.
Yet WADA has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking to impose a ban of up to two years on the 23-year-old Italian.
“I’m very disappointed and also surprised by the appeal to be honest. I was not expecting it,” said Sinner after the WADA appeal was confirmed.
“Maybe they just want to make sure everything is in the right position.”
A statement from WADA said: “It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules.
“WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA is not seeking a disqualification of any results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance.”
The WADA hearing into Sinner’s case has yet to be given a date at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with Rune’s comments on the amount of doping tests being given to tennis players highlighting how much work the ITIA are putting in to ensure the sport remains clean.
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