Canas fails dope test

2005-06-22 18:21

Buenos Aires - World number eight Guillermo Canas of Argentina said on Wednesday he was being investigated by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) after a doping test proved positive.

Canas, 27, said he was "innocent" and "shocked" by the investigation undertaken by the men's professional tennis players' asscociation.

Canas, who reached the quarter-finals of the French Open this year, later pulled out of Wimbledon.

"I am a professional play and it's difficult not to know what happened. But the truth is this: we don't know what happened," said Canas.

According to Argentinian media, the doping test Canas failed was carried out in February during a tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, where the Argentinian was beaten by Spain's Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.

Other Argentinians to have fallen foul of doping tests include Juan Ignacio Chela, Guillermo Coria, who reached the final of Roland Garros in 2004, and this year's French Open finalist Mariano Puerta.

Chela was suspended for three months in 2001 after testing positive to a steroid methyltestosterone.

Coria was suspended for seven months in 2002 for nandrolone. He blames contaminated vitamins for the positive test.

Puerta was suspended for nine months in October 2003 after testing postitive for an anabolic steroid at a tournament in Chile.

- AFP