‘Control freak’ Iga Swiatek recalls emotional upheaval during doping ban which was ‘worst time’ of her life
Iga Swiatek cited personal reasons for pulling out of three tournaments last year while she was serving a provisional doping suspension.
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Iga Swiatek (Image via X)
Iga Swiatek will be chasing her first Australian Open when the tournament starts on Sunday (January 12). , Ahead of the event, Swiatek recalled the time when she learned that a banned substance was found in her sample and how it affected her.
In August, before the 2024 Cincinnati Open, Swiatek failed the drug test. Her urine sample was contaminated because of consuming melatonin medication, which had the banned drug trimetazidine. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) provisionally suspended the Pole for three weeks during which she missed three tournaments on the Asian swing.
Swiatek, who was dealing with uncertainty, cited ‘personal reasons’ behind her decision to pull out of the tournaments and waited for the matter to resolve before making her case public.
It was probably like the worst time in my life. And the fact that I had no control over this whole situation and I had no chance to avoid it, yeah, it made it even worse because I’m a control freak a little bit (smiling). Just having the feeling that everything, that I kind of built, could be taken away so quickly because of something you have no control over, it was pretty crazy for me and really abstract.
Iga Swiatek said at the press conference
Though the one-month ban didn’t affect her career much, it led to a massive controversy with fans and even her colleagues slamming the ITIA for not handing a lengthy ban to the World No.2.
Iga Swiatek calls the doping system reasonable
Before Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner landed in hot water for failing a drug test. Banned anabolic steroid clostebol was found in his sample twice in March last year. The ITIA, however, made the case public in August, a few days before the US Open.
This sparked a huge controversy, with critics accusing the ITIA of treating the cases of the two high-profile players better than the others. Several big names from the world of tennis think the reason the ITIA didn’t disclose the doping results soon after they failed tests was to protect their reputation. Swiatek, however, is of a different opinion.
Ultimately, the system that is in place now, which gives a chance to find an answer and resolve the situation before it is revealed publicly, is reasonable.
Iga Swiatek said at the press conference
Swiatek now wants to move on from this controversy to focus entirely on her goal of winning her first Australian Open. The 23-year-old will start her campaign with a match against Katerina Siniakova.
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Gouri Das
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