Iga Swiatek recently opened up about how the response to her doping controversy has been among the tennis fraternity. Controversy erupted in the tennis world when it was made public on November 28 that Swiatek had tested positive for trimetazidine in August during an out-of-competition test.
The Pole was provisionally suspended and missed three tournaments. Following a successful appeal and much investigation, the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) gave the verdict that she bore 'No Significant Fault or Negligence' and let her off with a one-month suspension.
Though there was a mixed reception to the verdict, Iga Swiatek is done with her suspension and is ready to kick her season off at the 2025 United Cup. During a pre-tournament press conference, the 23-year-old was asked to shed some light on how the reception to the news had been from her perception.
Swiatek answered how she had received a lot of support from the tennis world, especially from those who understood how these such sensitive procedures worked. The Pole added how she kept herself off the internet and tried to move on from the ordeal.
"I think their response has been more positive than I thought. I think people are, most of them, are understanding, 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," Iga Swiatek said.
"So basically, honestly, I can't really say objectively because I haven't been much on the Internet. I try to, you know, 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."
Swiatek, who was having a hard time wrapping her head around the situation said that the possibility of people turning on her 'scared' her. When the Pole broke her silence for the first time, she admitted that she was 'shocked' and 'anxious'.
"But overall, the reaction in Poland basically, because this is mostly what I read, has been pretty, you know, supportive. I really, really appreciate that, because even when I miss China swing and nobody knew why, it wasn't so easy. So after my case was, the information about my case were released, you know, I was scared that most of the people are going to turn their back on me. But I felt the support, and it's great."
"Obviously there are going to be some negative comments" - Iga Swiatek on accepting to deal with the adversities of being a 'public person'

Continuing her thoughts, Iga Swiatek said as a 'public person', she would have to accept being on the receiving end of negativity from time to time. While there was support from many, tennis stars such as Nicky Kyrgios and Simona Halep expressed their disdain over the verdict.
"Obviously there are going to be some negative comments and you're not going to avoid that. That's something that is always going to kind of follow us no matter what happens in our lives. We are public persons. Yeah, well, I just have to accept that and I don't really care about those, honestly."
Iga Swiatek will look to put this unfortunate experience behind her as she looks to have yet another successful season in 2025. She will team up with Hubert Hurkacz, Kamil Majchrzak, Jan Zielinski, Maja Chwalinska, and Alicja Rosolska at the 2025 United Cup, where Team Poland ended as runner-up last year.