2023 Wimbledon Champion Marketa Vondrousova recalls an incident of a failed sample submission during an ongoing doping investigation back in December 2025. The world No. 46 has risked her four-year ban from tennis after refusing to a doping control officer to enter her home at Prague.
According to the tennis star, the check was not standardized and that the German officer failed to provide their identification. Recalling the incident on her Instagram she said, “The recent doping control incident happened because I reached a breaking point after months of physical and mental stress.”
She mentioned that was stressed to allow some strangers at her home and to enter her living room without any authorization. She also explained her reason for refusing to let the officer in. “At the moment I was thinking this could be anyone,” she added.
Vondrousova, who is currently under rehabilitation due to an injury, has been under pressure while battling sleep issues. She has been feeling exhausted and fragile during some moments.
She also went on to cite an example of two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who had suffered a career-threatening injury. Back in 2016, she had an uninvited stranger enter her house and was charged with a knife on her hand. It took her five months to recover from the cuts sustained. Meanwhile, the accused was sentenced to 11 years in jail for illegal entry into the player’s flat and under serious battery charges.
“When someone rang my door late at night without properly identifying themselves or following protocol, I reacted as a person who felt scared. In that moment, it was about feeling safe… after what happened to Petra, we don’t take strangers at our door lightly,” she also mentioned.
Vondrousova’s lawyer Jan Exner has also confirmed to AFP that the standards for collecting the sample were incorrect and that the situation resulted in no submission of samples by the player. Exner will try to go to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and will fight for Vondrousova’s case on declining to submit the sample.
“The proceedings are underway. There will either be a hearing or we will try to agree with the international bodies. We should know more by the summer,” Exner said.
