Rafael Nadal filed suit Monday against a former French minister who accused him of doping, saying he needs to defend his integrity and image as an athlete.
He said his lawyers lodged the defamation suit in Paris against Roselyne Bachelot because of her “offensive remarks” on French television last month.
Bachelot, France’s former minister for health and sport, said on the TV show Le Grand 8 that Nadal’s seven-month injury hiatus in 2012 was “probably due to a positive doping test.”
Bachelot made the comments in the wake of Maria Sharapova’s failed doping test.