“Like someone had died” – Swiatek reveals her reaction to failed dope test
“It was a mix of confusion and panic. There was a lot of crying”
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Iga Swiatek‘s doping revelation this year has shocked the entire tennis community, but no one apparently was more horrified by the news than the world No 2 herself.
“My reaction was very intense,” Swiatek told TVN24 recently (translated). “It was a mix of confusion and panic. There was a lot of crying. My manager said my reaction was like someone had died or something serious had happened to my health.”
The Poland native tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-drug competition in August this year and faced a month’s ban from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) consequently. TMZ, a banned substance helpful in heart-related problems, reached her body through the non-prescription medication melatonin. As per Swiatek’s claims, her doses had been contaminated with the prohibited drug in production facility.
"The toughest battle of my life."
— Eurosport (@eurosport) November 28, 2024
Iga Swiatek's full statement after accepting a one-month suspension under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme for testing positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine. pic.twitter.com/Zya4YmAEqO
“I thought it might be a mistake,” she added. “I really didn’t understand what was happening. The name of the substance itself was completely unfamiliar to me. I had never heard of its origin. I didn’t think much, I was just overwhelmed with emotions.”
“No one judges a player based on ranking”
Swiatek and the ITIA notably went live with the development two and a half months after the test reports came out on September 12, 2024. This caused an uproar among sections of people in and out of the tennis industry.
Moreover, many concluded the punishment wasn’t harsh enough as the five-time Grand Slam champion was barred from competing for only 30 days and stripped of her Cincinnati Open prize money.
Among those protesting was Simona Halep, who came out of a doping scandal not long ago and was slapped with a four-year ban by the ITIA to begin with. Halep suggested the tennis watchdog handed Swiatek’s case differently than hers.
Also, this came out when men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner is fighting a lawsuit against World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after testing positive for clostebol at the Indian Wells earlier this year.
Thus, comparisons between the three trials have been made in recent weeks but Swiatek has rubbished such assessments.
“I know that people automatically need to compare such situations to others that have happened before,” the 23-year-old continued in her interview with TVN24. “But the truth is that each of these cases is completely different. And the process of proving innocence will also vary accordingly.
“I trust that this process is objective, that everything is done according to the rules, and that no one judges a player either way based on their ranking. What mattered most to me was that I could start the new season with a clean slate and just focus on playing.”
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