Yastremska cleared to play after doping ban squashed

Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska was on Tuesday cleared of doping after a failed test last November that ruled her out of the Australian Open.

The 21-year-old, ranked 29 in the world at the end of 2020, received an initial ban after testing positive for a banned anabolic agent, mesterolone metabolite, used in male infertility treatment.

She first appealed to the International Tennis Federation (ITF)’s independent tribunal which upheld her ban on January 23.

Following a secondary hearing, the tribunal said on Tuesday that it “accepted Ms. Yastremska’s account of how the mesterolone entered her system and determined that she bore no fault or negligence for the violation”.

Yastremska’s provisional suspension was lifted with immediate effect, and “she will not serve any period of ineligibility for her violation”, the ITF said.

Yastremska posted on Twitter that she was “glad and relieved” to have been “cleared of any wrongdoing”.

“The Tribunal accepted that the positive test was caused by contamination,” Yastremska said in a statement.

“I’ve been through a lot during the last six months and it has been difficult to cope with all the negative comments.”

The decision is subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Ukrainian anti-doping agency.

Yastremska has won three WTA titles in her career, with her best Grand Slam performance a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2019.

“I look forward to getting back to my passion — tennis,” she said. 

“It has been taken away from me for too long, I can’t wait to get back on tour.”