Tennis hit by fresh doping storm as Swiatek hit with ban
Tennis has been hit by another doping controversy surrounding one of its top players after Iga Swiatek was banned for testing positive for a banned substance.
The Pole, the most dominant player on the women’s circuit in recent years, returned a sample containing the prohibited angina medication trimetazidine on August 12.
But Swiatek, 23, only received a one-month ban from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after arguing that she had taken the drug accidentally.
“The ITIA accepted that the positive test was caused by the contamination of a regulated non-prescription medication (melatonin), manufactured and sold in Poland that the player had been taking for jet lag and sleep issues, and that the violation was therefore not intentional,” it said in a statement.
Swiatek was provisionally suspended from September 22 until October 4, missing three tournaments, and must serve a further eight days.
It comes just months after men’s tennis world No1 Jannik Sinner escaped a doping ban despite testing positive for the banned substance clostebol.
An independent panel ruled that there was “no fault or negligence” from Sinner because the Italian had provided a “credible” explanation, and allowed him to carry on playing.
It led to suggestions from some ex-players that Sinner had received favourable treatment, while the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed the decision.
Swiatek has won five Grand Slam titles in as many years and was ranked world No1 at the time of her out-of-competition test in August, shortly after she won braonze at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She is now No2.
She split from long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski in October and teamed up with Naomi Osaka’s former mentor Wim Fissette.