Paris - Relieved Richard Gasquet refuses to be stressed as the International Tennis Federation appeals his exoneration on charges he tested positive for a miniscule amount of cocaine in Miami last spring.

Only a few weeks after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne allowed him to return to the game, the ITF struck back, dissatisfied with the leniency.

The French 23-year-old, ranked 37th, escaped from a potential one-year-ban as the tennis ruling body pronounced a sanction of two- and-a-half months, which was counted as already served.

Gasquet tested positive at the Miami Masters and said that the exposure to the drug surely came from a girl he kissed repeated at a disco. He was provisionally suspended last May pending his appeal. The ITF was joined in its court case by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

"Richard Gasquet has noted the appeal by the ITF and is convinced the Court of Arbitration for Sport will confirm he did not deliberately take cocaine," said Gasquet's management.

"The appeal does not ban athletes from competing. "Therefore, while waiting for the new hearing, Richard will continue to prepare for his return to competition in the next few weeks."

Gasquet is due to return to the game the week before the US Open in New Haven in a fortnight.(dpa)