Iga Swiatek will finish 2024 at second in the WTA rankings (Image: Getty)
testing positive for a banned substance has been painful for the world No. 2 in more ways than one.
Swiatek has been hit with a one-month doping ban, of which she has already served 22 days in secret. And the Pole still has eight days left to serve before she is in the clear, having accepted the punishment on Wednesday.
An out-of-competition sample in August returned small amounts of the banned substance Trimetazidine. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) later accepted that a melatonin supplement to manage jet lag was the cause, meaning Swiatek bore no ‘significant’ fault or negligence and was only given a light punishment.
Swiatek was provisionally suspended on September 22, which was kept a secret due to the fact she had appealed within 10 days of being notified. Though the 23-year-old has got away with a significantly more lenient penalty than other players who have failed drugs tests, she has been forced to forfeit the prize money she won at the Cincinnati Masters in August.
Wins over Varvara Gracheva, Marta Kostyuk and Mirra Andreeva carried Swiatek to the semi-finals, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.
That banked her a handsome £125,000 in prize money, but the fact her run came a matter of days after returning a positive sample on August 12 compelled the ITIA to take action.
Iga Swiatek won £125,000 in prize money at the Cincinnati Masters (Image: Getty)
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Swiatek has also lost out on the 390 ranking points she won in Cincinnati. While the five-time Grand Slam winner has endured a turbulent few months, she will be back in time for the Australian Open in January, and she has received a statement of support from the WTA.
Furthermore, now that the saga has been made public, Swiatek has had the chance to personally on social media. “It was a blow for me,” she said of her positive drugs test. “I was shocked and this whole situation made me very anxious. At first I couldn’t understand how that was even possible and where it came from.
“It turns out testing revealed historically low 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. The whole thing will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life, it took a lot of strength. Returning to training after this situation nearly broke my heart.
“There were tears and lots of sleepless nights. The worst part of it was the uncertainty. I didn’t know what was going to happen with my career, how things would end or if I would be allowed to play tennis at all.”