Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova was suspended for four years Monday for refusing an anti-doping test -- even though the Czech player cited "mental stress" and fear when the testing agent "rang my door late at night without properly identifying themselves."
The International Tennis Integrity Agency made the announcement, saying that Vondrousova refused a test in December, and that the decision was reached by an independent tribunal.
Vondrousova became Wimbledon's first unseeded female champion when she beat Ons Jabeur in the 2023 title match. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 that year. She also reached the French Open final in 2019, losing to Ash Barty.
The 26-year-old Vondrousova detailed her reaction to the missed test in an Instagram post in April.
"It is very tough for me to talk about this, but I want to be transparent with you about my mental health," Vondrousova said. "The recent doping control incident happened because I reached a breaking point after months of physical and mental stress."
The ITIA said Vondrousova "did not submit a sample when notified by a Doping Control Officer (DCO) during an out-of-competition test attempt at her home at around 8 p.m. on 3 December 2025" and that she instead signed a refusal form.
Vondrousova was represented by Los Angeles-based lawyer Howard Jacobs, a specialist in doping rules cases. Jacobs helped two-time Grand Slam singles champion Simona Halep win an appeal case in 2024 at CAS against a four-year ban for doping.
Vondrousova becomes the latest high-profile tennis player involved in a doping case after Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek and Halep.
Sinner accepted a three-month ban in a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency at the start of last year and Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension at the end of 2024.
Halep, Sinner and Swiatek each proved that they were not entirely responsible for their positive tests.
"We recognize this is a significant ban," ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse said. "And the reason for that, stepping back, is that you can't have an anti-doping system where a player is in a better place by refusing to take a test than they would by taking a test and testing positive. So that feeds into the structure of the doping rules that provides for a starting point in the four-year ban for refusing to take a test."
Vondrousova's ban expires June 21, 2030. She can appeal the decision to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.