Australian tennis player hit with 10-month ban for anti-doping breach over vitamin infusion

A second Australian tennis player in four months has been hit with a lengthy suspension for breaching the sport’s anti-doping rules over intravenous infusion of vitamins.

Thomas Fancutt, 30, was provisionally suspended in April but the sport’s anti-doping watchdog, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), this week hit the doubles player with a 10-month ban – a suspension which ends in January before the Australian Open.

Fancutt throws his racquet during a match against Mirza Basic in Bendigo in 2022. Credit: Getty Images

Fancutt has admitted to using a “prohibited method” as defined by the ITIA’s anti-doping program. Athletes are permitted to use IV drips, but only when fluid is below a certain threshold and within a specific time period.

Fancutt’s case follows that of Australia’s doubles champion Max Purcell who was hit with an 18-month ban in April for breaching the anti-doping rules after ITIA investigators found messages on his mobile phone in which he discussed ways he could justify receiving intravenous infusions.

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