Trio Provisionally Suspended on Corruption Charges

By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, February 23, 2026
Photo credit: Corleve/Mark Peterson

A trio of low-ranked players have been provisionally suspended on corruption charges.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced today Mark Kaufman of Russia and Serbians Draginja Vukovic and Mila Masic have all been hit with provisional suspensions on charged of violating tennis’ anti-corruption rules.

The Serbian pair are suspended under “likelihood of a Major Offense,” while Kaufman is suspended for “failure to comply with a demand.”

Here’s an excerpt from the ITIA’s news release on the three suspensions:

20-year-old Kaufman, who reached a career-high world doubles ranking of 2023 in September 2025, has been provisionally suspended since 24 December 2025.

On 9 January 2026, Kaufman exercised [his] right to appeal the imposition of the provisional suspension to an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO), before notifying the President of the AHO Panel, Professor Richard McLaren, of their intent to withdraw from proceedings, leading to a delay.

After no further correspondence was received from the player, AHO Diana Tesic dismissed Kaufman’s appeal on 18 February 2026.

28-year-old Masic, who reached a career-high world singles ranking of 875 in December 2024, has been provisionally suspended since 24 December 2025. On 23 January 2026, Masic exercised [his] right to appeal the imposition of the provisional suspension to an AHO. On 19 February 2026, AHO Charles Hollander KC dismissed Masic’s appeal.

25-year-old Vukovic, who reached a career-high world singles ranking of 527 in September 2025, has been provisionally suspended since 17 December 2025. Vukovic elected not to appeal provisional suspension to an AHO.

During their provisional suspensions, the individuals are prohibited from “playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association,” the ITIA announced.