29 Dec 2009

ASB tennis third seed says poor communication led to ban

2:42 pm on 29 December 2009

The ASB tennis Classic third seed says poor communication led to an initial year long ban by Belgian anti-doping authorities.

World number 16 and US Open semi finalist Yanina Wickmayer ran foul of the controversial whereabouts rules but is fighting the ban and can continue to play and hence her arrival in Auckland for next week's tournament.

The whereabouts rule, introduced this year, requires elite athletes to tell authorities three months in advance where they will be for at least one hour a day, every day of the year.

The Belgian says her country's anti doping authorities assumed she would be up to speed about the requirements of the whereabouts rules when they were introduced this year.

But Wickmayer says she didn't understand the demands of the rules and the anti-doping authority is very strict.

Yanina Wickmayer who hopes to recieve an outcome about her case in the next few months.