Coco Gauff says a “pushy” anti-doping tester brought her to tears after speaking to her outside her daily testing window. Her comments land as players describe fear and frustration with the system, including the four-year ban Marketa Vondrousova received after
When Coco Gauff stepped into Wimbledon competition with the No. 7 seed and one more match on her mind, she still carried the memory of a phone call that left her crying.
She told that an anti-doping tester was “pushy. ” and that what happened after the call didn’t just sting—it broke her down. “One time she came outside my time slot,” Gauff said after her first-round victory at Wimbledon. “But the way she was speaking to me on the phone, it literally made me cry afterwards.”.
Gauff said she later learned she had been within her rights. “I found out I was in the right, and I didn’t have to do anything.”
For Gauff, the system wasn’t only about procedures. It was about how those procedures are delivered.
That mood has been spreading across the sport as players open up about what happens when they navigate anti-doping rules in real time—especially in the wake of Marketa Vondrousova’s four-year ban handed after she refused a test at Wimbledon 2023 champion’s status was already the kind of headline tennis rarely lets go.
Under the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s protocols, players must provide a 60-minute time slot each day to be available for testing. The ITIA also says that if a doping control officer “locates and notifies a player outside of that hour, they must complete the test.”
Naturally, athletes say the process hinges not only on rules, but on communication.
Ajla Tomljanovic, ahead of her first-round match on Tuesday, described the close calls that have made her wary. “I’m very scared of the system because it feels broken,” she said. Tomljanovic said she had experienced situations where it became about “technicalities. ” and that when she spoke with people in charge. the help wasn’t there. “I don’t want to say they don’t care — but they weren’t very helpful at all to explain things or just show some sort of compassion when I was nowhere near missing a test or testing positive.”.
She said she was also seeking guidance on how the app works. “I was new to the whole system,” Tomljanovic said. She described being at “two fails for a month,” adding that if she got a third one “accidentally I would be out for at least two, three years.”
For Tomljanovic, the fear is tied to the consequences of error. “It’s in a way, I won’t say no fault of my own but it’s not to the degree of being banned and smearing your name,” she said. “In that sense, I think there’s so much to improve on.”
Serena Williams, making her Wimbledon return on Tuesday, framed the system as punishing in its own way. She called it “a big reason why I didn’t want to come back either, because it’s just so hard.”
What players are describing—fear, confusion, and harsh interactions—runs straight into the case at the center of the current spotlight.
Vondrousova’s test refusal and the rule on timing
Marketa Vondrousova became Wimbledon’s first unseeded female champion when she beat Ons Jabeur in the 2023 final. But her spotlight shifted in early December 2025 when she refused to take a test after a doping control officer rang her apartment’s intercom at 8 p.m.
This month, following a hearing by an independent tribunal, Vondrousova, 27, received the maximum four-year ban for a first offense.
The ITIA published a video explainer of the case. describing that on the night in question Vondrousova challenged the timing of the test because it was outside her designated time slot. The agency’s explanation included a hard rule: “If a Doping Control Officer. or DCO. locates and notifies a player outside of that hour. they must complete the test.”.
Vondrousova had described the tester as “aggressive,” and said the frequent ringing of the intercom “triggered a state of distress,” according to the ITIA video.
In the tribunal’s June 22 decision, the independent body confirmed Vondrousova refused the test, and found that the evidence “provided no compelling justification for doing so.”
The ITIA also said that under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, “test refusals can be sanctioned as severely as positive tests.” One rationale it highlighted is that an athlete who is doping could simply refuse a test and seek a lighter punishment.
The agency added that it conducted over 8,000 tests both in and out of competition last year and “received a handful of complaints.” The ITIA said, “We take all feedback on board and encourage players to share their views with us.”
It pointed to the wider framework too: tennis follows WADA rules and processes, which “will be refreshed in 2027.” The ITIA said WADA consults with athletes from across global sport as part of that refresh.
For players who feel caught between rules and real-life moments, that promise is the question on everyone’s tongue. The ITIA said. “We understand the system can seem challenging. ” and repeated that “it is there to protect players. not to trip them up.” It added: “If players are ever unsure about a test. have questions. or would like to provide feedback on their experience. we want to hear about it.”.
Some say four years is too heavy
Even players who may not know the full details of Vondrousova’s case have reacted to the scale of the penalty.
Jessica Pegula, the No. 4 seed, said she didn’t know the full details but that she felt for Vondrousova. “I feel, like, for Marketa,” Pegula said. She argued that “for something like that. for four years. you’re ruining someone’s career over something that could have really just been a complete misunderstanding. ” adding: “I just don’t think that’s fair. I think the sentencing is so harsh.”.
Pegula also compared the severity to other doping outcomes she referenced during the same Wimbledon week. “I don’t quite understand the difference between that and then obviously what happened with (Jannik) Sinner and Iga (Swiatek). ” she said. “They justified what the rules were and why it was the way it was.”.
Sinner. top-ranked and the defending men’s champion at Wimbledon. accepted a three-month ban in a settlement with WADA in early 2025 after his two positive doping tests from the prior year. WADA challenged ITIA’s decision not to suspend Sinner for what it judged was accidental contamination. specifically through a massage. by a banned anabolic steroid.
Swiatek. Wimbledon’s defending women’s champion. accepted a one-month suspension in 2024 after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine. a heart medication. ITIA accepted Swiatek’s explanation that the result was unintentional and caused by contamination of a nonprescription medication. melatonin. that Swiatek was taking for issues with jet lag.
The facts in these cases keep circling back to the same lived question tennis players are now voicing more openly: how a rule is enforced matters. How it is communicated matters. And when the interaction turns from procedure into pressure, athletes say the damage can start long before any tribunal does.
Coco Gauff Wimbledon anti-doping ITIA Marketa Vondrousova Serena Williams Ajla Tomljanovic Jessica Pegula test refusal WADA