Aryna Sabalenka believes Iga Swiatek ‘is innocent’ as she slams critics for ‘judging’ her rival without figuring out truth about doping case
Iga Swiatek was contaminated by trimetazidine when she was consuming melatonin, and her not facing a long ban invited criticism.
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Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka (Images via X)
Aryna Sabalenka backed Iga Swiatek again as she believes that the Pole unintentionally consumed the banned drug trimetazidine. Sabalenka criticized those who doubt the World No.2 as she thinks they judged Swiatek without trying to find the whole truth.
Swiatek faced a one-month ban because of failing the drug test which forced her to miss three tournaments on the Asian swing. Her missing mandatory tournaments affected her rankings and Sabalenka, who was also winning tournaments on the hard courts, dethroned her from the top to end the 2024 season as a Year-End No.1.
Whatever happened to her, I believe in a clean sport. People always overreact when they see something without trying to figure what actually happened and understand the player. They’re always going to find things to judge someone’s success. So, I prefer to believe that there is a clean sport and she’s innocent. If they prove that, it means that she is innocent.
Aryna Sabalenka told The Ages
The 26-year-old also stated that the reason she became a No.1 player was not only because of Swiatek’s inactivity as she too worked hard the whole year and put the 23-year-old under pressure.
The three-time Grand Slam singles champion continues to dominate the ranking with her win at the Brisbane International where she beat Polina Kudermetova in the final on Sunday (January 5).
Iga Swiatek thanks the team for creating an amazing atmosphere at United Cup
While Aryna Sabalenka clinched her first title of the season in Brisbane, on the same day, Iga Swiatek and Poland suffered defeat in the United Cup final. Swiatek lost the first match against Team USA’s Coco Gauff after which Hubert Hurkacz too faced a similar fate when he met Taylor Fritz.
After the match, Swiatek admitted playing at the United Cup was exhausting and thanked her team for keeping the atmosphere light.
I wanted to thank the team because as you could see on the bench, we had such an amazing atmosphere even though this event is exhausting, this is what makes it so special and amazing. Having the support of you guys. Thank you for that. It gives us a lot of energy.
Iga Swiatek said
The five-time Grand Slam champion will now shift her focus to the Australian Open which starts on January 12. Last year in the tournament, Swiatek suffered a three-set defeat in the third round. She never reached the final in Melbourne.
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Gouri Das
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