Rafael Nadal to sue former French cabinet minister over doping allegations

Bachelot, who had served as the sports minister in the French government, between 2007 and 2010, stated that Nadal had faked an injury in 2012 to miss the final six months of the season to hide a positive drug test. Her comments followed Maria Sharapova’s public admission that she had failed a drug test during the 2016 Australian Open, which eventually led to her ban from the circuit for six months.

The incident made Nadal quite angry then and he responded immediately, threatening to sue, but has taken legal advice before doing so. Almost a year later, he has decided to sue Bachelot.

The Spaniard's lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, told the court that the doping accusation could have had major consequences for Nadal and his "existing or future sponsors".

Maisonneuve said that his client had "asked me to put to bed once and for all what Mrs Bachelot said by passing on to you his medical file which revealed a very serious left knee injury."

Bachelot's lawyer Olivier Chappuis countered the statement by saying that the International Tennis Federation's anti-doping programme has always been astonishingly lax.

He further added: "There is a vast gap between the success he enjoys and the weakness of anti-doping controls.

"What sponsor has abandoned Rafael Nadal because of these comments? None," he claimed, urging the court to award symbolic damages to Nadal, if Bachelot is found guilty, of one euro."

The 16-time Grand Slam winner has never officially failed a drugs test and has always been a strong critic of using banned substances.