ITIA Quarterly Update - Q1 2025

An introduction from Karen Moorhouse, CEO of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA)

Education and engagement are pillars of our strategy, which we launched last year, with a focus on prevention of inadvertent breaches of the rules. Across all departments of the ITIA, our team is keenly aware of the need to help players and their support teams in addressing gaps in understanding, and we have met that challenge head on in the first quarter of 2025.

We delivered a combination of interactive seminars and one-to-one sessions on important topics such as Whereabouts at the Australian Open, while our Senior Director, Legal, Ben Rutherford also presented to player support teams on anti-doping case management, to answer important questions among the player base, and dispel myths about the system.

Taking a similar approach, in March, I attended Indian Wells for the combined ATP and WTA event alongside our Director of Education, Matthew Perry, to host a number of meetings with players and relevant personnel to provide further opportunities for feedback, questioning, and discussion about our programmes.

While offering elite players the opportunities to drop in during their regular tour season is helpful, our education strategy is built around a pathway approach, interacting with players at key points through their journey into professional tennis. You can read more about our approach here.

In practice, our approach means that players are growing more and more likely to enter the ATP or WTA Tour having received foundational education from us in person, in addition to the mandatory online education for all registered players. In real terms, taking the WTA as an example, two thirds of the tour debutants in the first quarter of 2025 had already received one-to-one education from us before their main draw debuts, on top of a number of online modules mandatory for all professionals and top juniors.

We continue to commit to the ITIA being an approachable organisation, and as transparent as is possible given the nature of our work, and invite stakeholders from across tennis to continue to contact us directly with any concerns, questions, or feedback they may have.

In the months ahead, we will be confirming new channels of communication which will make talking to the ITIA easier for those involved in tennis, and I look forward to discussing this more in due course.

As I wrote in our recently published annual review of 2024, it is inevitable that much of the discussion in this quarter around our work has related to the high-profile cases of the recent 18 months.

February’s World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) settlement with Jannik Sinner brings closure to all parties, and reinforces the findings of the first instance tribunal that this was not a case of intentional doping.

The case is a strong reminder of the importance of players (and their support teams) having access to education, resources, and support to avoid unintentional rule violations, and the significant impact positive tests can have on both the reputation and wellbeing of the individual player and the sport collectively.

Sanctions and Provisional Suspensions

Players and officials – TADP sanctions

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) settled its appeal against a No Fault or Negligence ruling in Jannik Sinner’s case with a three-month Case Resolution Agreement.

The ITIA found No Fault or Negligence in the case of Nicolas Zanellato.

Players and officials – TACP sanctions

Jerome Inzerillo – five years and seven months

David Guez – four years

Romain Bauvy – four years

Yannick Jankovits – two years

François-Arthur Vibert – two years and three months

Agustin Moyano – 15 years

Juan Gabriel Castro – six years

Joshua Muhire – two years and six months

Anna Lytneva – 12 months

Mina Hodzic – three months

Australian national-level line judges Son Le and Loveleen Mansinghka were issued fines of $4,000 ($3,000 of which is suspended) and $3,000 ($2,000 of which is suspended), respectively, for placing bets on tennis, resulting in a breach of section D.1.a of the TACP.

The bets placed were not on matches officiated by either Le or Mansinghka, but the larger fine issued to Le reflects that they placed bets on the 2025 Australian Open, an event for which they held accreditation.

Dragos’ Madaras appeal against a TACP sanction was partially upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, reducing their suspension from four years and six months to two years.

Leny Mitjana’s appeal against a 10-year TACP suspension was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Provisional Suspensions

Aleksei Mokrov (TADP)

Yash Chaurasia (TADP)

David Saye (TADP)

Gonçalo Oliveira (TADP)

Jatuporn Na Lamphun (TACP)

Tsao Chia-yi (TADP)

Thomas Fancutt (TADP)

Match alerts

In the first quarter of 2025, the ITIA received a total of nine match alerts through its confidential Memoranda of Understanding with the regulated betting industry.

A note about match alerts:

Every alert reported to the ITIA is recorded, assessed and followed up as an indicator that something inappropriate may have happened. It is important to note that an alert on its own is not evidence of match-fixing.

Unusual betting patterns can occur for many reasons other than match-fixing – for example incorrect odds-setting; well-informed betting; player fitness, fatigue or form; playing conditions and personal circumstances.

The number and distribution of alerts are reported quarterly. Care should be taken in drawing any conclusions about prevailing corruption across the tennis ‘pyramid’ as there are many more matches at the bottom than at the top.

Where analysis of a match alert does suggest corrupt activity, the ITIA conducts a full, confidential investigation.

In addition, the ITIA considers intelligence from various sources, and encourages anyone with any concerns to contact the ITIA.

Tennis Anti-Doping Testing Programme – Q1 2025 testing figures

These figures outline the number of samples taken from players, not the number of tests (multiple samples e.g., urine and blood, can be taken from players when they are tested). All tests undertaken this quarter were with no notice.

The ITIA is responsible for the TADP across all professional tennis. Tests in Q1 of 2025 took place at events ranging from ITF $15K level to the Australian Open with in and/or out-of-competition testing undertaken in 52 different countries.

ABP = Athlete Biological Passport

DBS = Dry Blood Spot