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Iga Swiatek has opened up about why she initially chose not to disclose the news of her positive doping test. The Pole faced a one-month provisional ban in September 2024 after testing positive for the banned substance Trimetazidine.
In August 2024, Swiatek tested positive in an out-of-competition test and appealed the result. According to the International Tennis Integrity Agency, the result was caused by contamination in a regulated, non-prescription melatonin supplement. The 23-year-old had been using the supplement, widely available in Poland, to address jet lag and sleep issues.
The ITIA determined that the player's level of fault was minimal, falling at the lowest end of the range for "No Significant Fault or Negligence." News of her provisional ban became public in November when she agreed to serve its remaining eight days after the verdict.
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The first time Iga Swiatek missed tournaments following a provisional ban imposed on September 12, her team attributed her absence to a "personal matter." During a media interaction at the 2025 Australian Open on Friday, January 10, she addressed the incident, saying:
“Like first three weeks, I would say, were pretty chaotic. There was no way to have any answers to the questions. We just focused on finding the source. But I got to say, yeah, for sure it wasn't easy. 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.”
When asked why her team initially explained her absence as being due to personal matters, the Pole replied:
“After, yeah, it got pretty awkward. Like we chose for the first tournament to say 'personal reasons' because we honestly thought the suspension is going to be lifted soon. From the beginning it was obvious that something was contaminated because the level of this substance in my urine was so low that it had to be contamination, you know?”
The World No. 2 defended her team’s decision, explaining that they wanted to identify the source of the issue first:
“Yeah, I mean, since we didn't know what’s going to happen because we had no control over ITIA's decision, we also couldn't make any, like, logical plan. We started, yeah, with 'personal issues' because I needed also time to figure everything out.”
The ITIA ultimately concluded in Iga Swiatek's case that there was no intent involved on her part.
Iga Swiatek to start her Australian Open 2025 campaign against Katerina Siniakova
Iga Swiatek will begin her 2025 Australian Open campaign on Monday, January 13, facing Czech player Katerina Siniakova. The tournament is scheduled from January 12 to 26.
Swiatek had a strong start to the season at the 2025 United Cup, securing four consecutive victories on her way to the final. However, in Sunday's championship match on January 5, the Polish star fell to American Coco Gauff 4-6, 4-6.
