Yastremskak with former coach Sascha Bajin in Brisbane a year ago. The fate of her 2021 trip Down Under is now in the hands of the CAS.
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MELBOURNE, Australia – Dayana Yastremska’s name still appears on the entry lists of several Australian tournaments, despite her provisional doping suspension.
It seems crazy. But in fact, it’s a process.
Yastremska, who tested positive for metabolites of mesterolone in November and announced her provisional suspension on Jan. 7, was a surprise passenger on the charter flight from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne two weeks ago.
At the time, she remained provisionally suspended. And the initial news release said she had opted not to (yet) appeal that suspension.
Smartly, in that sense, Yastremska waited until Jan. 16 to file the appeal – at which point she had already arrived in Australia.
On Jan. 23 (last Saturday), the ITF announced that she had indeed appealed the provisional suspension, and that it had been denied on Jan. 22.
Her last recourse was to appeal to the CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
One more shot at the AO
On Tuesday, the CAS announced that the appeal had been registered. And that an expedited appeal had been granted, before a sole arbitrator, will be rendered by next Wednesday (Feb. 3).
That’s when she’ll know if she will be able to participate.
And that’s when one of the lucky losers will know if she’s getting into the Australian Open main draw in her stead – a decision that will be worth $100,000 AUD to that player.
Yastremska was on the original entry list for the WTA 500 tournaments scheduled to take place next week.
She’s gone from those, but remains on the list for the tournament in Melbourne the second week of the Australian Open, and the one in Adelaide the week after the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2021 season concludes.
(Oh, and she also contracted the coronavirus when she arrived in Dubai for pre-season. And didn’t skate through that).
It’s been a time.
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I don’t know how much she learned after contracting COVID given the fact that her mask isn’t even on properly while on the flight to Australia.
Well, she probably figured she wasn’t going to get it again two weeks later. 😛
Not sure what Kuznetsova’s reasoning was.