LONDON, July 2: A person claiming to be a drug-testing official tried to get access to Venus Williams prior to the Wimbledon tournament, the world number one said Tuesday.

Asked after her 6-2 6-0 demolition of Russia’s Elena Likhovtseva in the quarterfinals about out-of-competition drug testing, the defending champion said: “Someone tried to get in (my house) doing a drug test.

“(They said) if I wasn’t tested in two hours, I wouldn’t be playing on tour. (They said) they were from the USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) but it was just someone trying to get in.

“There’s always someone at the gates trying to get in. I normally tell the gate to tell them ‘Venus moved to Siberia some months ago’.”

Williams said the imposter had tried to gain access while she was in London just before the tournament began.

She said while she was not against out-of-competition testing for banned substances, she would have a problem with a bona fide drug-testing official turning up at her home unannounced.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I wouldn’t let anyone in my house if I’m not expecting them,” she said.

Earlier on Tuesday the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced it would need to introduce blood testing to back up new advanced urine tests for the blood-boosting agent EPO and other new superdrugs to comply with a proposed testing policy set by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

ITF executive director Debbie Jevans said it was about to sign a new agreement with WADA over the testing.

It had refused to do so previously because of concerns about a previous out-of-competition testing policy set by WADA.

“We did not want the whereabouts of our players to be public, for example for out of competition testing. Our athletes are very high profile, there can be problems with stalking,” she said.—Reuters