Nick Kyrgios dismisses Iga Swiatek's doping defense, labels her explanation an "excuse"

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has criticized Iga Swiatek's explanation, which allowed her to overturn her suspension. The Pole initially received a one-month ban after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine during an out-of-competition test in August.

As a result, Swiatek was sidelined from September 12 to October 4, missing the entire Asian swing. While she initially attributed her absence to personal reasons, she was serving a provisional suspension.

The five-time Major champion later explained that the positive result was unintentional. She linked it to contamination in a non-prescription melatonin supplement she had been using to manage jet lag and sleep issues.

After much investigation, the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) declared that the Pole bore 'No Significant Fault or Negligence.'

Journalist, Jose Morgado later shared this update on X. Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios, who had previously been outspoken against Jannik Sinner's doping verdict, responded to the post, writing:

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

ITIA's verdict was later questioned by World No. 10, Denis Shapovalov on X.

"1 month ban eh?" He wrote.

However, a fan replied to Shapovalov, asking him to understand the meaning of "No Significant Fault or Negligence."

"One day someone will explain to Shapovalov what "No Significant Fault or Negligence" means especially in cases of contamination. But I genuinely begin to believe that he is too stupid to understand 😅," they wrote.

Kyrgios, however, countered by asking the fan what "prohibited at all times" means. For context, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned the use of trimetazidine (TMZ) in all sports in 2014, the substance recently detected in Swiatek's system.

"What does prohibited at all times mean?" Kyrgios asked.

Later, in one of his comments on X, the Aussie dismissed Swiatek's defense, mocking it as an excuse. He suggested that top athletes can now easily dismiss accountability by claiming ignorance of banned substances.

"The excuse that we can all use is that we didn’t know. Simply didn’t know. Professionals at the highest level of sport can now just say “we didn’t know,” he commented.

Iga Swiatek also broke the silence in light of the doping controversy.

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"I don't think I even knew it existed": Iga Swiatek said following the controversy came to light

Iga Swiatek at Billie Jean King Cup Finals - Semi-Final - Source: Getty

Iga Swiatek posted a video on Instagram, expressing surprise over the controversy. The 23-year-old stated that she had never heard of trimetazidine before, but promptly cooperated with the ITIA to resolve the matter.

"It turns out testing revealed historically lowest levels of trimetazidine, a substance I've never heard about before. I don't think I even knew it existed, I have never encountered it, nor did people around me. So I had a strong sense of injustice, and these first few weeks were really chaotic. We instantly reacted and cooperated with the ITIA," she said.

Swiatek's out-of-competition test, conducted before the Cincinnati Open (August 12), led to her forfeiting the $158,944 prize money she earned for reaching the semifinals.