ITIA chief insists Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek didn’t get ‘special treatment’ following their doping scandals
Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek are perfectly eligible to play the lead up to the Australian Open before heading to Melbourne Park.
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Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner (via X)
International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) CEO Karen Moorhouse has broken her silence on the doping scandals involving Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner. The current tennis superstars are facing doubts about their futures due to failed doping tests.
However, Moorhouse insists that neither player was given special treatment compared to previous cases. The ITIA CEO claims that people should review the cases of Sinner and Swiatek in comparison to those of Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova.
Cases can also be quite complex, so it isn’t right to look at two headlines and draw comparisons between two cases as the detail is always the key part. Let’s take Swiatek and Halep. The CAS tribunal found that her (Halep’s) supplement was contaminated. So just in relation to that finding, they said nine months (suspension). That was the tribunal deciding on the objective fault she had and the subjective fault she should have. So what should she have done in relation to the product that was found to be contaminated?
Karen Moorhouse said in an interview to Tennis365
Sinner’s doping scandal surfaced in August, just a few hours after his Cincinnati Open title win. The Italian tested positive twice for clostebol in March but did not receive a suspension from tennis authorities. After initially being cleared, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pushing for a suspension for Sinner in 2025, with the verdict expected after the Australian Open.
In relation to Swiatek, the contaminated product was a medication. So it was not unreasonable for a player to assume that a regulated medication would contain what it says on the ingredients. Therefore, the level of fault she could accept was at the lowest level as there was very little more she could have done reasonably to mitigate the risk of that product being contaminated. Halep’s contamination was not a medication. It was a collagen supplement and her level of fault was found to be higher. The key point here is it’s rare to find two cases that are the same they will all turn on their particular facts.
Karen Moorhouse added
On the other hand, Swiatek received a one-month suspension after testing positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication. The World No. 2 withdrew from many tournaments in the second half of the 2024 season, which led to her serving the one-month suspension. Swiatek is now eligible to play in the United Cup starting in late December before heading to the Australian Open in 2025.
Coco Gauff topples Iga Swiatek to become the highest-paid female tennis athlete
Forbes has released its list of the highest-paid female athletes in 2024, and tennis players dominate once again. Coco Gauff tops the list for the first time, replacing Iga Swiatek, who was No. 1 last year. Gauff earned an impressive $34.4 million this year, with most of it coming from sponsorships. She made $9.3 million in prize money, with a record $4.8 million from winning the WTA Finals.
Gauff’s off-field earnings are huge, totaling $25 million from deals with brands like New Balance, Head, and Barilla. This brings her total earnings to third place, behind Naomi Osaka ($57.3 million) and Serena Williams ($45.9 million). Forbes calculates off-field earnings through endorsements, licensing, and business returns, but it does not include taxes or agent fees.
Swiatek, who earned $23.8 million, drops to second place. Her earnings include $8.8 million from prize money and $15 million from endorsements. Freestyle skier Eileen Gu is the only non-tennis player in the top five, ranking third with $22.1 million. She is followed by tennis players Qinwen Zheng and Aryna Sabalenka, who earned $20.6 million and $18.7 million, respectively.
Other tennis stars in the top 20 include Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu, who earned $12.9 million, mostly from endorsements. Venus Williams, despite playing only two matches, earned $12 million from sponsorships. Jessica Pegula, Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina, and Leylah Fernandez also made the list, with earnings ranging from $6.5 million to $10.2 million.
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Fahad Hamid
(654 Articles Published)