Emma Raducanu ‘badly bitten by ants’ on eve of Australian Open
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The 22-year-old refused to treat the swelling over fears that she could fail a drugs test. Emma Raducanu has revealed she was “badly bitten by ants” ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne but refused to use an antiseptic spray over concerns surrounding recent anti-doping cases involving Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek.
![[Raducanu has been handed a difficult draw against 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/10/10/2025-01-10T063100Z_1736136302_UP1EL1A0I3MCS_RTRMADP_3_TENNIS-AUSOPEN.jpg)
Raducanu said she was left with a swollen ankle and hand after the insect bites triggered an allergic reaction but the former US Open champion opted to “tough it out” because she didn’t want to risk failing a drugs test. The tennis world was rocked last season after it emerged that World No 1s Sinner and Swiatek tested positive for banned substances. Swiatek accepted a one-month ban after proving she was contaminated by a supplement to combat jet lag, while Sinner was cleared after it was ruled he was contaminated by his physio during a massage.
![[Emma Raducanu laughs during a press conference]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/10/08/10-a6605a6deee146c09620ce2b715605bb.jpg)
Both cases have led to players taking an apprehensive approach to additional supplements and medications, as Raducanu explained following her insect bites on the eve of the tournament in Australia. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take onboard, and what we use,” the 22-year-old said. “Yesterday, for example, I got really badly bitten by like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess.
