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Andrej Martin handed 14-month doping ban

Slovakian tennis player Andre Martin    was handed a 14-month ban Thursday for breaching doping rules.

The 33-year-old Martin, who reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 93 in 2020, tested positive for the anabolic agent SARM S-22 at the Bratislava Open in June.

An independent tribunal found that Martin “had not knowingly ingested the banned substance,” the International Tennis Integrity Agency said, after he said the banned substance was in a teammate’s water bottle from which he mistakenly drank during a floorball tournament the same month.

During the hearing, Martin’s floorball teammate admitted to adding ostarine drops — another name for SARM S-22 — to his water bottle.

The tribunal said “the burden of responsibility for what players ingest is their own” and decided a 14-month ban was appropriate because the offense was not intentional. Martin had faced the possibility of a four-year ban.

Martin’s ban will end on June 5, 2024.

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu withdrew from the Madrid Open shortly before she was due on court to play Viktoriva Tomova in the first round Wednesday.

The 20-year-old British player cited an injury to her right hand as the reason for her withdrawal.

It is the latest setback for Raducanu, who has struggled for form and fitness since her fairy-tale run to the title at Flushing Meadows in 2021 as an 18-year-old qualifier.

She lost in the first round in Miami and Stuttgart, and by missing Madrid, she will likely fall outside the top 100 in the WTA rankings for the first time since her stunning breakthrough.