Junior Wimbledon finalist and teenage sensation Nikola Bartunkova suspended after testing positive for banned substance

Nikola Bartunkova was seen as one of the finest talents of her generation, but it seems to have come crashing down with the Czech teenager suspended after testing positive for banned substance trimetazidine.

Bartunkova reached the Wimbledon junior final last year, but the ITIA announced the news of her suspension on Thursday. She received a pre-charge notice of a rule violation on April 16 with the presence of a banned substance in a sample she provided and the use of such a substance without a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption.

The Czech player provided two samples at two ITF events in Slovakia in February and Slovenia in March. The a samples from both contained this substance known as a metabolic modulator. It is known as a non-specified substance on the list which means that any finding carries a suspension. She does not possess such an exemption for this substance meaning that she is now banned for an undisclosed period. She lost last year to Clervie Ngounoue in the girls' final at Wimbledon after defeating Alina Korneeva priorly who was highly touted.

Playing juniors was interesting too given that she had already won at ITF lower level and then this year won her first WTA main draw match in Transylvania against Dayana Yastremska. But it seems amidst the promise is a halt in her career from now as she sits at a crossroads after her ban.

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Tumaini Carayol

@tumcarayol

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Bartunkova is one of the most talented young players of her generation. Significant news.

International Tennis Integrity Agency

@itia_tennis

Nikola Bartunkova, an 18-year-old tennis player from Czechia, has been provisionally suspended under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.

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