'Back like I never left': Aussie makes $3.6k winning start upon return from suspension

(Thomas Fancutt/Instagram)

Australia's Thomas Fancutt has marked his return from a lengthy ban by taking out a UTR Pro event on the Gold Coast.

Fancutt, who turns 31 at the end of February, defeated fellow Aussie Scott Jones via a walkover to collect a paycheck of $3,600.

Before his first match at the start of the month, the former world No.382 hadn't played a singles match since the end of 2024.

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Fancutt was originally hit with a two-year suspension by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after exceeding the permitted intravenous (IV) infusion. The news was released to the public in March 2025, but in August, his ban was reduced to 10 months, ending his ban on January 18, 2026.

"[I was] genuinely banished… it's been my life, I grew up at a tennis centre… it felt like I wasn't able to go home," he said

"I had some dark days for sure, where I thought about quitting, the world was kind of against me, and I'm getting destroyed for an honest mistake.

"I got messages from people saying I'm an embarrassment to my family and my country, the facts weren't even public yet, and I was getting sprayed.

"We're just people, and people make honest mistakes. I genuinely had no clue about an IV rule and got zero benefit from it."

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