"Is it normal for doping officers to sit in our living rooms at night waiting for us to pee?": Marketa Vondrousova fumes over 'serious intrusion into privacy'

Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova erupted on social media after receiving an unexpected visit from anti-doping officials for a test. The Czech tennis player published a statement in her Instagram stories criticizing the visit for the test being outside her testing window.

According to current regulations, players must indicate a time of day and location where they will be during the year – that is, each player chooses a one-hour window when they will be available for a surprise test at their home, every day of the year.

However, according to the Czech player, the official in charge of the anti-doping control arrived at a time that did not correspond to her time window: “Every day, we are required to be at home for one specific hour doping control. I respect that rule — every single day,” posted the former World No. 6. “Tonight, however, a tester arrived at 8:15 p.m. and told me that the time I had declared doesn’t matter and that I must be tested right now. When I pointed out that it’s outside my testing window and a serious intrusion into my privacy, I was told: 'This is the life of a professional athlete.'”

The Czech clarified that her complaint is not about avoiding anti-doping tests, but that she expects the rule regarding the daily time window to be respected by both players and the competent organizations. “Is it normal for doping officers to sit in our living rooms at night waiting for us to pee? This is not about avoiding a test — it’s about respect. Respect for the rules that we follow, and for the personal life we’re entitled to after a long day of training and competition. Rules should apply to everyone. Even to those enforcing them.”

Vondrousova finished the season as World No. 34 – in a year again marked by injuries for the 26-year-old Czech star, who won a title at the WTA 500 Berlin Open and reached the quarterfinals at the US Open – where she had to withdraw due to an injury before facing the eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.

Anti-doping rules are once again the focus of attention following the complaints from the 2023 Wimbledon champion. This is because the Anti-Doping Program requires players to provide accurate information about their whereabouts for out-of-competition controls, under the "Three Strikes Rule."

Accumulating three whereabouts failures – or not being present at the time of the presentation – within a 12-month period is considered an anti-doping rule violation and is sanctioned as a positive doping result. This means that a player is exposed to a penalty of between 1 and 2 years of suspension, although it could be up to 4 years depending on the degree of fault.

Such was the case of the Swede Mikael Ymer, former World No. 54, who accumulated three whereabouts failures during 2022. After being acquitted in the first instance by an independent tribunal, the Swede had declared that he had missed a drug test because he had overslept after staying up all night to care for his younger brother, whom Mikael claimed was sick.

The ITF appealed the decision to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), which reported that on the date of that control, the younger brother was at a junior tennis tournament in Finland, so Mikael's version of events could not be true. The initial acquittal was revoked, and he was declared guilty, with an 18-month suspension announced in July 2023, when the Swede was 24 years old, which shortly thereafter led Ymer to announce what would be the end of his career. The Swede came back to regret his decision and returned to the courts at the beginning of 2025, playing some Future and Challenger tournaments, although he finished the year outside the top 600.

Another player who suffered the same fate was Jenson Brooksby. The American accepted two of the failures but disputed the second, arguing that the Doping Control Officer had not done enough to locate him. The independent tribunal determined that Brooksby's degree of fault was "high," and he faced an 18-month suspension that caused him to lose his ranking. He only returned in early 2025, and achieved good campaigns to return to the top-100 after winning the ATP 250 Houston Open title, finishing the season as World No. 53.