Doping in tennis refers to the use of prohibited, performance-enhancing substances listed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) . The ITF has published a list of banned practices that are considered acts of illegal doping within tennis, which includes blood doping, the use of substances to increase red blood cell levels to regulate oxygen levels within the body, increasing athlete performance and recovery. In addition to blood doping, there are five main categories of drugs that are prohibited from tennis and all sports, including local anaesthetics, cortico-steroids used to treat inflammation, stimulants, narcotics, and diuretics.
Tennis is generally seen as a "clean" sport, and it has not faced a doping crisis like that of cycling, the Olympics, or track and field. However, certain professional tennis players have been caught using banned substances. In an anonymous survey published in 2018, 44% of 1200 international athletes admitted to having doped at least once. Tennis has built its clean image largely on in-competition drug testing, which is seen throughout the anti-doping community as futile and capable of catching only unsophisticated dopers, because players know when and where testing will occur.
In conclusion, doping in tennis involves the use of prohibited, performance-enhancing substances listed by the ITF and WADA. Tennis has not faced a doping crisis like that of other sports, but certain professional tennis players have been caught using banned substances.
