British tennis star Emma Raducanu says she turned down treatment for insect bites ahead of this year’s Australian Open over concerns about what she could be putting in her body.

Fear of ingesting a contaminated substance led Britain's Emma Raducanu to turn down treatment for an insect bite ahead of the Australian Open which starts this weekend. Speaking ahead of her opening round match against Russian 26th seed Ekaterina ­Alexandrova,

Raducanu, who faces No. 26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the opening round, said in her pre-tournament news conference that she got “badly bitten” by ants or mosquitoes Thursday January 9. Despite suffering what she described as an allergic reaction, Raducanu did not administer an antiseptic spray provided to her by someone in attendance.

The 22-year-old British tennis star said a hand and ankle swelled up but she refused to use an antiseptic spray in case contamination led to a positive doping test.

Raducanu said she was left with a swollen ankle and hand after the insect bites triggered an allergic reaction but the former US Open champion opted to “tough it out” because she didn’t want to risk failing a drugs test.

Tennis Raducanu Presser Update

Emma Raducanu has been left with a swollen hand and ankle after being ‘badly bitten by ants’ at the 2025 Australian Open in dramatic scenes. The British tennis star, world No.60, is unseeded at Melbourne Park and is set to face Russian 26th-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round.

Emma Raducanu has become the latest victim of Australia’s famously hostile wildlife – although it was not spiders or snakes in her case, but rather “jumping ants”.