Ignacio Truyol

Ignacio Truyol-Turrión (born August 1973) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He was the first tennis player ever to be suspended for testing positive to a banned drug.[1]

Ignacio Truyol
Full nameIgnacio Truyol-Turrión
Country (sports) Spain
BornAugust 1973
Madrid, Spain
Turned pro1993
Prize money$109,540
Singles
Career record4–6
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 104 (19 August 1996)
Doubles
Highest rankingNo. 387 (3 October 1994)

Biography

Born in Madrid, Truyol had a breakthrough season in 1996 when he came close to breaking into the top 100. Beginning the year ranked 238, by August he had made it to 104 in the world. In his first main draw appearance in an ATP Tour tournament, at the Trofeo Conde de Godó in Barcelona, Truyol reached the third round, with wins over Sándor Noszály and world number 25 Paul Haarhuis. A qualifier, he also managed to take eventual finalist Marcelo Ríos to three sets before being eliminated.[2] Soon after he reached the second round of the Oporto Open and then won his first Challenger title, in Istanbul.[3][4] He made his third ATP Tour appearance that season in Indianapolis and had an opening round win over the previous year's runner-up, Bernd Karbacher.[5] In the second round he was beaten in three sets by Àlex Corretja.[6] He made further main draw appearances in Bournemouth, Palermo and Tel Aviv to close out the year.

It was announced in 1997 that Truyol had tested positive for an anabolic steroid and stimulant during a Challenger tournament the previous year in Ostend, Belgium.[7] Truyol claimed that the drugs, nandrolone and pemoline, were prescribed by a Spanish physician for a chronic back injury.[8] He was banned from all competition for one-year.[9] The first player in history to be given a drugs ban, Truyol told a Spanish newspaper that he felt like a "guinea pig" and believed that if it had been Peter Sampras or Andre Agassi who had tested positive they would not have been suspended.[10]

Truyol didn't return to tennis until 1999 and made the semi-finals of Challenger events in Segovia and Budapest in his first year back. Before retiring in 2001 he tried unsuccessfully to qualify for the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.

Challenger titles

Singles: (1)
No. Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
1. 1996 Istanbul, Turkey Hard Jean-Philippe Fleurian 6–2, 6–4

References
  1. "First Player Suspended for Drug Use". New York Times. 15 January 1997. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  2. "Sólo Ríos separa a Jim Courier de la final espera". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 20 April 1996. p. 36. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  3. "Maia Open-Oporto Cup". The Courier-Journal. June 12, 1996. p. 8. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  4. "ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit - Istanbul Challenger - 29 July - 04 August 1996". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  5. "Indianapolis (AP)". The Call-Leader. 13 August 1996. p. 5. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  6. "Agassi victimized by RCA curse". The Call-Leader. 15 August 1996. p. 4. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  7. "Tennis player suspended for drugs". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 15 January 1997. p. 2C. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  8. "Truyol becomes first player suspended for drugs". Boca Raton News. 15 January 1997. p. 2B. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  9. Finn, Robin (19 August 1998). "A Hidden Threat in Tennis; Teen-Ager's Case Points Out Over-the-Counter Access to Steroids". New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  10. Menayo, David (8 March 2016). "El español Ignacio Truyol, triste 'pionero' de los positivos en el tenis". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2016.
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