Iga Swiatek says the majority of the public has been understanding about her failed doping test earlier this year that led to a one-month suspension.
The former world No.1 failed an out-of-competition test after the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) was detected in her sample. She was provisionally suspended from the sport for 22 days before successfully appealing after providing evidence that she unintentionally took a contaminated medication. The drug at fault was found to be melatonin which is manufactured in Poland and is used to treat jet lag. A tribunal concluded that Swiatek had ‘No Significant Fault or Negligence’ but issued her with a one-month suspension which included the 22 days she was provisionally suspended.
Swiatek missed three tournaments in Asia as a result of her suspension which wasn’t made public until the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) published their report in late November. She was able to participate in the Billie Jean King Cup during this period and served the remaining eight days of her suspension after the tribunal reached its verdict.
Swiatek will return to action at the United Cup, which is a mixed-team event staged at multiple venues across Australia. Despite the recent controversy, the Pole says she has received mainly positive reactions from the public.
“I think people, most of them, are understanding,” she told reporters on Friday.
“And the ones who read the documents and are aware of how the system works, they know that I had no fault and I had no influence on what was going on.
“I try to just go on with my life and focus on different things, focus on preparing for the season and on tennis because this is the best thing you can do after a case like that.”
Unlike men’s world No.1 Jannik Sinner, Swiatek is not expecting the World Anti-Doping Agency to appeal against the decision of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). Sinner failed two drugs tests but also successfully appealed against his provisional suspension. The ITIA concluded he bore ‘no fault or negligence’ as it was a substance used by his former physio that contaminated him. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is appealing against this verdict because they view these findings as ‘not correct under the applicable rules”.
“I gave every possible evidence and there is not much, honestly, more to do,” she said.
“There is no point to do an appeal in our opinion.
“But, you know, I guess overall, this whole process was pretty abstract sometimes and hard to understand from a point of view where you don’t think about the law and everything.
“But honestly, this is about the law and the wording and this kind of stuff. So I’m not expecting an appeal, but I have kind of no influence on what’s going to happen.
“But I can say from the processes that I went through and how they treated me from the beginning, that it seemed fair for me.”
“I managed to give the source (of the contamination) pretty quickly. That’s why the case closed, pretty quickly.”
At the United Cup, Swiatek will play her first match against Norway’s Malene Helgo on December 30th. Poland finished runners-up to Germany in the last edition of the tournament.
