27 Jul 2013

Serb gets 18 months for doping violation

2:57 pm on 27 July 2013

The Serbian tennis player Viktor Troicki has been banned for 18 months for a violation of anti-doping rules.

Troicki, who reached the third round at Wimbledon recently, failed to provide a blood sample during the Monte Carlo Masters in April.

The 27-year-old claims he had asked for permission to be excluded from the blood test because he was feeling unwell, but the International Tennis Federation rejected that explanation.

Troicki, currently ranked 53 in the world, will end his suspension in late January 2015.