JOIN USCroatian tennis player Marin Cilic has been banned for nine months after testing positive for the stimulant nikethamide, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Monday.
In a statement the ITF said Cilic had "ingested the nikethamide inadvertently as a result of taking Coramine glucose tablets, and did not intend to enhance his performance in doing so".
The suspension has been backdated to May 1, allowing Cilic to return to the circuit on January 31 next year.
The ITF statement said Cilic had tested positive at the BMW Open in Munich this year. It said Cilic had asserted that he had taken the stimulant by accident as a result of taking the glucose tablets that had been purchased on his behalf from a pharmacy.
Cilic, 24, has not played since withdrawing from his second-round match at Wimbledon in June. Cilic, who is currently ranked 24th, spent 11 successive weeks in the top 10.