Wickmayer and Malisse appeal against doping bans

LONDON (Reuters) - Belgian tennis players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse, who both fell foul of anti-doping regulations, appealed against their one-year bans to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday.

"Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse have filed appeals at CAS against decisions taken by the Vlaams Doping Tribunal of Gand, Belgium, in which they were found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation," a CAS statement said.

Wickmayer, a U.S. Open semi-finalist this year, was suspended after breaking the controversial whereabouts rule -- that requires players to notify their country's doping agency where they can be reached on a daily basis -- three times.

Malisse, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist whose career has slumped after various injuries, was banned for missing a doping test and twice failing to say where he could be reached.

The 29-year-old said earlier this month that the suspension would probably mean the end of his career.

"It's hard to get a one-year suspension if you never used doping," an emotional Malisse told reporters after being informed of his punishment.

CAS said a decision would be announced within four months.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)