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.

Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year and the 113th running of the event, starts at Melbourne Park on Sunday with four British women, including the 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu,

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.