{"id":823349,"date":"2025-01-31T10:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T16:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/31\/grand-slam-champion-emma-raducanu-refuses-treatment-for-insect-bites-over-doping-fears\/"},"modified":"2025-01-31T10:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T16:14:08","slug":"grand-slam-champion-emma-raducanu-refuses-treatment-for-insect-bites-over-doping-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/31\/grand-slam-champion-emma-raducanu-refuses-treatment-for-insect-bites-over-doping-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand slam champion Emma Raducanu refuses treatment for insect bites over doping fears"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ArticleContent\">\n<p>Former <a data-link-type=\"article-inline\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/sport\/us-open\">US Open<\/a> champion Emma Raducanu has refused treatment on her nasty insect bites over doping fears on the eve of the <a data-link-type=\"article-inline\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/sport\/australian-open\">Australian Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Raducanu revealed her ankle and hand swelled up following the bites, but she won\u2019t entertain the risk of using an antiseptic spray to treat them.<\/p>\n<p>The revelation comes after the much-publicised doping cases involving Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n<p><span>Know the news with the 7NEWS app: <a href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/app?utm_source=7NEWS&#038;utm_medium=contextual-link-app&#038;utm_campaign=7news-app\" target=\"_blank\">Download today <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/7news.com.au\/static\/media\/right-red-arrow.92bca5db.svg\" alt=\"Download today\" height=\"14\" width=\"20\"><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Swiatek served a one-month ban after it was accepted that medication she took to combat jet lag was contaminated.<\/p>\n<p>Sinner\u2019s future is under a murky cloud after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed a decision to ban him for one month for twice testing positive for an anabolic steroid last March.<\/p>\n<p>The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ruled Sinner was not at fault, accepting the 23-year-old\u2019s explanation that the banned performance enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who apparently used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.<\/p>\n<p>However, with WADA appealing, Sinner could still be suspended for up to two years if found guilty.<\/p>\n<p>The high-profile cases have rival players on high alert.<\/p>\n<figure><picture><source data-ratio=\"16:9\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\"  ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.7news.com.au\/publication\/C-17351944\/1116a0cc39d37f0e8e7a428e9464cd5fe6db8c1f.jpg?imwidth=650&#038;impolicy=sevennews_v2\" alt=\"Raducanu is on high alert at the Australian Open. \"><\/picture><figcaption><span><span>Raducanu is on high alert at the Australian Open. <\/span><span> Credit: AAP<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI got really badly bitten by I don\u2019t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I\u2019m allergic, I guess,\u201d Raducanu said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey flared up and swelled up really a lot. Someone was giving me this antiseptic spray, \u00adnatural, to try to ease the bites. I didn\u2019t want to take it. I didn\u2019t want to spray it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was just left there with my swollen ankle and hand. I was like: \u2018I\u2019m just going to tough it out because I don\u2019t want to risk it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a concern on our mind. We\u2019re all in the same boat. I think it\u2019s just how we manage as best as we can the controllables. If \u00adsomething out of our control \u00adhappens, then it\u2019s going to be a bit of a struggle to try and prove.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raducanu faces 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in a difficult first round match at Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old has dealt with a raft of injuries since her breakthrough at the 2021 US Open when she stunned the field to becomes the first qualifier to win a grand slam title.<\/p>\n<p>She pulled out of the Auckland International after suffering a back spasm and despite heading into the Australian Open with no competitive matches since November, Raducanu is feeling confident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel good. I feel healthy and feel I\u2019ve been training well. I\u2019m prepared and ready to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I can be a dangerous opponent for anyone really. You have to kind of have that belief as a player.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not really worth going on court if you don\u2019t believe you can win.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> Ben Sutton<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/sport\/tennis\/grand-slam-champion-emma-raducanu-refuses-treatment-for-insect-bites-over-doping-fears-c-17351944\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has refused treatment on her nasty insect bites over doping fears on the eve of the Australian Open. Raducanu revealed her ankle and hand swelled up following the bites, but she won\u2019t entertain the risk of using an antiseptic spray to treat them. The revelation comes after the much-publicised<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":823350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1884,2809],"tags":[8323,5953],"class_list":{"0":"post-823349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-champion","8":"category-grand","9":"tag-champion","10":"tag-grand"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}