Croatian tennis player Jana Fett suspended after testing positive for three banned substances

Tennis player Jana Fett said she is working to establish her innocence after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on Friday confirmed the Croatian has been provisionally suspended for an anti-doping violation.

The suspension relates to a sample Fett provided during the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs in November 2025. The ITIA said it sent Fett a pre-charge notice of a violation on Dec. 22. Fett’s B sample was analyzed Jan. 14, and it confirmed the findings of the A sample, the tennis integrity agency said.

The ITIA said Fett tested positive for three banned substances: the anabolic steroid ostarine, and metabolites of two two non-steroidal substances, LGD-4033 and GW501516. LGD-4033 is an experimental drug for treating muscle atrophy which is not yet clinically approved; GW501516, branded as cardarine or endurobol, forces muscle to use fat as an energy source, instead of carbohydrate. It has been banned for human consumption after tests in mice linked it to rapid cancer development.

Fett, who achieved her highest singles ranking of No. 97 in 2017, said in an Instagram post Friday that she has never “knowingly or intentionally taken any prohibited substances” and is working with advisers and the ITIA to prove her innocence.

Players can appeal a provisional suspension, but Fett has chosen not to do so, the ITIA said. Fett, 29, did not immediately respond to efforts to contact her through social media.

In a statement released by the Croatian Tennis Federation and translated by DeepL, federation president Zdravko Marić said, “Knowing Jana as an exceptionally fair athlete, I deeply believe that she introduced the prohibited substance unintentionally, and not with the aim of achieving a sporting result at the expense of the rules.”

In Fett’s most recent competition on the WTA Tour, she reached the quarterfinals of the WTT W50 in Selva Gardena, Italy, in December. Her most recent appearance at a major ended with a loss in the third round of qualifying for the 2025 US Open.

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