Nick Kyrgios approved Emma Raducanu’s precautionary method after the 2021 US Open champion shared that she rejected to take an antiseptic spray in Melbourne because she feared it might be contaminated with a banned substance.
When speaking to reporters at the Australian Open ahead of her first-round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova, the Briton was asked about the Iga Swiatek failing a doping test due to contamination.
Answering the question, the 22-year-old didn’t hide that she fears that scenario and revealed that she was actually walking with a badly swollen ankle and hand in Melbourne because she refused to take a spray for an insect bite.
“I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take onboard, what we use. I mean, yesterday, for example, I got really badly bitten by I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” Raducanu said.
“They flared up and swelled up really a lot (smiling). Someone was, like, giving me this antiseptic spray, natural, to try to ease the bites. I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t want to spray it.
“I was just like left there with my swollen ankle and hand. I was, like, I’m just going to tough it out because I don’t want to risk it (laughter).”
