Jannik Sinner will launch his Australian Open title defence under a stubborn doping cloud but the whiff of scandal may do little to halt the Italian juggernaut. Sinner remains the man to beat at Melbourne Park even as doping officials seek a two-year ban for the world number one for failing two drugs tests last March.

Iga Swiatek, a self-described “control freak,” is taking new precautions — including holding on to extra samples of medicine she takes, in case they need to be tested at some point — after a doping case she describes as probably the worst time in her life.

Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek were both able to go for months last season without anyone knowing what was happening behind the scenes and that they'd failed doping tests.

Iga Swiatek says that her positive doping test was abstract to her as she did not know that medicine could be contaminated.

British tennis star Emma Raducanu has said she has suffered swelling to her hand and ankles after being bitten by jumping ants in the buildup to the Australian Open.

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.

Emma Raducanu has been left with a swollen hand and ankle after being ‘badly bitten by ants’ at the 2025 Australian Open in dramatic scenes. The British tennis star, world No.60, is unseeded at Melbourne Park and is set to face Russian 26th-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round.