Two tennis players ranked outside the top 500 suspended for testing positive for clostebol

LONDON (AP) — Two tennis players ranked outside the top 500 have been provisionally suspended after testing positive for clostebol, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Tuesday.

The players are No. 546 Karlis Ozolins of Latvia and No. 1,123 Daniil Kakhniuk of the United States.

Both players provided samples during an ITF World Tennis Tour event in San Jose, Costa Rica, in February, which contained metabolites of clostebol – the banned anabolic steroid that top-ranked Jannik Sinner also tested positive for in 2024, which led to a three-month ban.

Ozolins and Kakhniuk “have the right to appeal their suspensions, but neither has done so,” the ITIA said.

“As with all Tennis Anti-Doping Program cases, ITIA support is available to both players, including pro-bono legal aid, independent wellbeing support, and financial assistance to investigate the source of positive findings,” the ITIA said.

The suspensions have been in place since April 14.

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