Jana Fett has spent the opening weeks of 2026 as a tennis absentee — now we know why.
On Friday, January 23, 2026, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed that the 29-year-old Croatian has been provisionally suspended under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme after an in-competition test produced three prohibited substances.
For a player who has made a habit of quietly elbowing her way back towards the big stage, it’s a bleak turn — and one that comes with the sport’s harshest kind of limbo: you’re not banned “for years” (yet), but you’re effectively barred from working in public until the case is resolved.
What the ITIA says happened
According to the ITIA, Fett provided an in-competition sample on November 16, 2025 during the Billie Jean King Cup play-offs in Varaždin, Croatia.
The sample was split into A and B samples. The ITIA says the A sample contained:
- SARM Ostarine (S-22) (scientific details on Enobosarm)
- A metabolite of LGD-4033
- Metabolites of GW501516 (metabolites on ScienceDirect.com)
The B sample, analysed on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, confirmed the A-sample findings.
The ITIA also states it sent Fett a pre-charge notice on December 22, 2025, citing alleged violations under Article 2.1 (presence of a prohibited substance) and/or Article 2.2 (use without a valid TUE).
Why Fett Has Effectively Vanished Since Christmas
Because the ITIA says two of the substances are “non-Specified”, the rules require a mandatory provisional suspension — and in Fett’s case it has been in effect since December 22, 2025.
That’s the key point for readers who’ve been wondering why she’s been listed as inactive: the WTA’s own player page currently shows Fett as “Inactive” and ranked No. 189 in singles for 2026 year-to-date.
While provisionally suspended, the ITIA says Fett is prohibited from playing, coaching at, or even attending any event sanctioned by ITIA members (including the WTA, ITF, ATP and the Grand Slams).
Can She Appeal?
Yes — and this is where the story remains open.
The ITIA notes that players have the right to appeal the imposition of a provisional suspension before an independent tribunal chair. As of the ITIA’s statement, Fett had not appealed.
What happens next is the slow churn of process: hearings, submissions, explanations, and (sometimes) mitigation arguments. Until a final decision is reached, “provisional” is a clinical word for something that feels very final on a player’s calendar.
What Are The Substances?
The ITIA places the substances under the 2025 Prohibited List categories of Other Anabolic Agents and Metabolic Modulators.
If you’ve heard of GW501516 before, it may be because anti-doping agencies repeatedly warn athletes about it appearing in shady supplement pipelines; USADA notes it’s also known as “GW1516” and “cardarine” (among other names).
(That context isn’t a verdict. It’s simply why these cases, once public, tend to invite intense scrutiny — because the substances involved are not the sort of thing that typically wanders in by accident without a story attached.)
A career that has resisted tidy summaries
Fett is not a household name, but she has been a familiar presence in the sport’s second tier — the kind of player who can look ordinary for weeks and then suddenly beat someone you absolutely recognise.
She reached a career-high ranking of No. 97 in October 2017, as the ITIA notes.
More recently, she qualified for the Australian Open main draw in 2025 and pushed Harriet Dart to a third-set match tiebreak in the first round. She also scored a notable win in Stuttgart when she beat fellow Croat Donna Vekić to set up a meeting with Iga Świątek.
In Paris, Fett played Roland-Garros 2024 and fell to Marie Bouzková in the round of 64.
That’s the sting here: this isn’t a fading starlet or a player drifting out with the tide. Fett’s recent seasons have had the feel of a professional stubbornly refusing to disappear — until the sport, for now, has forced her to.
The uncomfortable bottom line
At this stage, the ITIA has confirmed the provisional suspension and the substances detected, but the disciplinary process is ongoing.
For Fett, the immediate reality is blunt: no tournaments, no sanctioned training environments, no “I’ll just play a few ITFs and rebuild.” Until the case concludes, she is sidelined in the strictest sense of the word.