Tennis players 'super afraid' of contamination

As Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek prepare for the new season after a year in which they fell foul of doping rules, positive drug tests due to contamination are a genuine fear for many of their fellow professionals.

The star duo spent small fortunes on quickly proving how the banned substances had entered their systems but other players, many who do not have huge financial resources at their disposal, are understandably jittery.

"A lot of the players I know are quite apprehensive," former US Open champion Emma Raducanu said.

"Everything we take, we're aware of the situation and how easily things can be contaminated. There are certain supplements that I may want to take, but I can't take them because they're sold over the counter and not batch tested."

The Briton said it costs over US$1,000 (S$1,350) to batch test supplements.

Russian former world No. 5 Andrey Rublev echoed Raducanu's comments, saying that he was "super afraid" to ingest anything he was not absolutely sure about.