"It was probably the worst time in my life": Iga Swiatek lifts the lid on her emotions after finding out about positive doping test for the first time

Iga Swiatek found herself at the center of controversy after testing positive for a banned substance in August 2024. She had to remain silent about the situation until the investigation was concluded and the news was made public in November. Swiatek described learning about the positive test as the "worst time" of her life.

On Friday, January 10, ahead of the 2025 Australian Open, Swiatek addressed the media in her pre-tournament press conference. During the session, the World No. 2 opened up about the emotional toll of learning about her positive test for trimetazidine. She explained that when she first found out, the situation was "chaotic."

"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," Iga Swiatek said.

"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 (smiling)," she added.

Despite the emotional toll, she remained resolute, explaining that she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong.

"For sure this whole process was pretty abstract for me. Especially when I know that I didn't do anything and I had no idea to know that some medicine can be contaminated. I'm always careful, so... I had no idea that this can even happen to me," she explained.

Speaking to Tennis Insider Club last week, Swiatek disclosed how the Polish media spread misinformation about her mental health while she was on a break after the 2024 US Open.

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Iga Swiatek reveals the Polish media diagnosed her with depression & mental health struggles during her break from the sport

Iga Swiatek training ahead of the 2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

During a recent interview with Tennis Insider Club, Iga Swiatek discussed the impact of outside pressure and media scrutiny, acknowledging that it affects everyone. She explained that she tries to avoid spending too much time on the internet, posting only what she needs and avoiding reading comments to minimize its impact.

Further, she talked about the speculations that were doing rounds while she was on a break from the sport. Swiatek played the US Open in August but missed the Asia swing and returned in November for the WTA Finals.

At the time, she could not reveal that she was missing tournaments because she was dealing with a failed drug test. The 23-year-old shared that while there was little external criticism when she took time off, the situation in Poland was much different.

"But in Poland, like, it got crazy. Like, media, like, they diagnosed me with, uh, like, mental health, you know, disorders like I suddenly had depression. I was burned out. I was, you know, firing everybody from my team. Like, suddenly they wrote this articles, like clickbait titles as well, that there's something wrong with me, you know, because I didn't play two tournaments. And this was tough because I felt like I need to, you know, just update them, like, every minute about my life because then they're gonna go in a weird way," Iga Swiatek said.

Currently, the Pole is preparing to play the first Grand Slam of the 2025 season. She has been drawn against doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova in the first round on Monday, and it will be the first match between the pair on tour.