Russian Tennis Prospect Receives Four-Year Suspension for Doping Violation
A promising Russian tennis player has seen his career halted after being handed a severe four-year ban for a doping offence. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed that 20-year-old Aleksei Mokrov is suspended from the sport until 2029.
The Positive Test and Charges
The case began when a sample provided by Mokrov during an ITF World Tennis Tour M15 tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2024 returned a positive result. The sample was found to contain metabolites of Nandrolone, a substance categorised as an Anabolic Agent and prohibited under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP).
Nandrolone is a non-specified substance, and the ITIA stated that Mokrov did not possess a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for it. Following the positive test, the ITIA issued Mokrov with a pre-charge notice of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation in January 2025.
Failed Appeal and Tribunal Findings
Mokrov denied the violation and contested the finding, leading to a hearing before an independent tribunal in October 2025. His defence argued that the laboratory analysing his sample had deviated from World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards, rendering the result unreliable.
However, the tribunal was "entirely unpersuaded" by this argument, stating that Mokrov failed "by some margin" to prove his assertion. Crucially, the tribunal also noted that the player made no attempt to explain how the banned substance entered his system. Consequently, he could not prove that the violation was unintentional.
Ban and Consequences
The independent tribunal upheld the violation, resulting in a four-year ban. Because the positive test was for a non-specified substance, an automatic provisional suspension came into force on 27 January 2025. His ban is therefore effective until 26 January 2029.
Throughout this suspension, Mokrov is prohibited from competing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis events authorised by the governing bodies of the sport, including the ATP, ITF, WTA, and the four Grand Slam tournaments. At the time of the violation, his career-high singles ranking was 1413.
