The farcical case of Dayana Yastremska
Calls for an explanation from the ITF after the world No 19 will serve out quarantine but not play at Melbourne Park.
It may have been overshadowed by the quarantine controversy that engulfed the lead-in to the Australian Open but the absurd situation involving Dayana Yastremska reached its likely conclusion on Sunday.
The Ukrainian, who is serving strict quarantine, will almost certainly depart Australia without having set foot on to Melbourne Park after her appeal against a provisional suspension for doping was dismissed.
Former ASADA chief Richard Ings is among those who are bemused the 20-year-old was able to travel to Victoria and quarantine at the expense of Tennis Australia.
The International Tennis Federation stood down Yastremska, a finalist in the Adelaide International last year, on January 7 following confirmation of a positive test in November.
A winner of three WTA titles, Yastremska tested positive to mesterolone metabolite in an out-of-competition test two weeks after her season concluded in Linz.
Effectively, this meant there was more than a week between the notification and the departure of flights to Australia in which an appeal could have been heard.
Ings, a former top level ATP Tour umpire and integrity executive, is bemused Yastremska’s hearing was not expedited given the current climate related to travelling abroad in a pandemic.
He said Yastremska should never have been allowed to travel and believes the ITF should compensate Tennis Australia for the subsequent expenses associated with her travel to Melbourne.
“This incident requires clarification,” he wrote on social media.
“She has a right to a hearing based on provisional suspension. But why couldn’t it have been expedited to occur before the flight left?
“It’s her appeal. Her evidence. Why wasn’t the hearing held before departure?”
Exacerbating the situation involving Yastremska is her appearance in a social media post, which has since been deleted by dual-major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
It pictured Yastremska, who had coronavirus in December, failing to wear a mask as dictated on the flight to Australia.
It was one of three flights to Melbourne carrying Australian Open-affiliated personnel that subsequently had passengers test positive to COVID-19.
Yastremska professed her astonishment at the initial positive test to the illegal substance and blamed a cross-contaminated sample in a statement issued earlier this month.
The world No 19 has the right to appeal the latest finding to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
There are now 72 players, along with dozens more Australian Open personnel, more than midway through a strict lockdown ahead of the Australian summer beginning on February 1.
Tennis Australia, in conjunction with the ATP and WTA Tours, are considering measures aimed at reducing the disadvantage those players have experienced when they complete quarantine.
It has been reported the WTA Tour is considering hosting adding a third women’s tournament, one reserved strictly for those in quarantine, to the calendar.
The ATP Tour is considering proposals including a delayed start date for the men who have been unable to use the five hour training window allotted to their peers in less strict quarantine.
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Statement: pic.twitter.com/pBEpJ8gkls
— Dayana Yastremska (@D_Yastremska) January 7, 2021
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