Čilić had been missing from the competitive circuit since withdrawing in the second round at Wimbledon in June, when he imposed upon himself a "voluntary provisional suspension", according to the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The world number 24 tested positive for banned stimulant nikethamide at the BMW Open in Munich this May, and will return to action on January 31 next year.

The ITF decided to backdate the ban to May and give the 24-year-old a more lenient sentence after accepting his explanation that he had not intended to take the substance or use it to gain a competitive edge.

"The Independent Tribunal found that Mr Čilić ingested the nikethamide inadvertently as a result of taking the Coramine glucose tablets, and did not intend to enhance his performance in doing so, and that he therefore met the preconditions of Article 10.4 of the Programme, which entitles him to a reduction of the Period of Ineligibility for Specified Substance based on an assessment of his fault," said a statement from the ITF.

Marin Čilić was handed a reduced penalty after the ITF accepted that he had not knowingly ingested the substance



The Croatian number one, who missed out on his nation's Davis Cup defeat to Britain at the weekend, has said he will launch an appeal to the CAS "very shortly".

"Unbeknownst to me, the glucose tablets contained a substance that is banned in-competition, although it is allowed out-of-competition," Čilić said.

"I wish to emphasise that I have never knowingly or deliberately taken any banned substances in my life and that I am opposed to any use of performance-enhancing substances in sport."

One month after submitting the positive sample, Čilić reached the final of the Aegon Championships at the Queen's Club in London, but failed to retain his title after losing to Briton Andy Murray.

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