WIMBLEDON, England (AP) The ATP Tour will begin blood testing for the banned endurance-enhancing substance EPO in August or September, pending approval by the players' council.

ATP spokesman David Higdon said Thursday the tour was now confident that testing for EPO, which raises the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, was at such an advanced level that the tour could begin testing players.

As with guidelines set down by the International Olympic Committee, the blood test is done along with a urine test as backup. If the blood test is positive for EPO, the urine sample is used to verify the blood test.

"We are very confident of getting this through, and are in the process now of getting it approved by the players," Higdon said.

"We met with the player council on the Saturday before Wimbledon, and told them this is coming. We feel we have definite support for it."

The subject of drug use in tennis came up this week when John McEnroe's former wife, Tatum O'Neal, claimed in an interview with ABC that he had used steroids late in his career.

On Wednesday, McEnroe called her statements "ridiculous" but wouldn't directly respond to reporters' questions about steroid use.

Drug testing in tennis started in the late 1980s, conducted by the Men's International Professional Tennis Council. The testing at that time was for recreational drugs only and not for those that were considered performance-enhancing.

From 1990 the ATP began testing for performance-enhancing drugs as well. With the acceptance of tennis into the Olympics as a medal sport in 1992, the ATP joined with the International Tennis Federation and the women's WTA Tour to institute the joint Tennis Anti-Doping Program.

At the French Open last month, the ATP rejected allegations that drug-taking was rife among players.

French Davis Cup player Nicolas Escude told the French tabloid Le Parisien that he believed the ATP was trying to cover up the extent of the problem, particularly among American players.

"To say that tennis today is clean, you have to be living in a dream world," Escude said at the time.

Mark Miles, chief executive of the ATP, rejected the claims then against the sport's anti-doping program.

"Some of what I read attributed to players, if accurate, I find uninformed, irresponsible and offensive," Miles said in a statement.

In the past two years two Argentine players, Juan Ignacio Chela and Guillermo Coria, have tested positive for banned substances. They were suspended for three and seven months, respectively.

Former Australian Open champion Petr Korda tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at Wimbledon in 1998 and was banned for a year.

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