Stéphane Houdet will not return to the tennis courts this year. The French wheelchair tennis champion had his 15-month suspension for “negligence” upheld by an independent tribunal on Friday July 1, the International Federation (FIT) said. The 51-year-old tennis player was sanctioned due to the world tennis anti-doping program.
Houdet, 51, had been part of the athlete monitoring program since January 2009. Three times in 2021, he missed doping tests and was suspended for 15 months as a result of December 27.
The French tennis champion challenged, on appeal, the validity of two of the three failed tests, but in a hearing held on June 14 before an independent tribunal, he failed to convince the judges that he had not been “negligent” in this matter.
His suspension is therefore confirmed, until March 26 of next year. In addition, his results, earnings and points earned in tournaments during the period from December 27, 2021 to June 30, 2022 will be canceled (Houdet continued to play following his appeal).
Triple Paralympic champion in doubles, in Beijing, Rio and Tokyo, Stéphane Houdet has won 23 grand slam tournaments in singles, including Roland-Garros twice (2012, 2013) and the US Open twice (2013, 2017) .
