Iga Swiatek Issued One-Month Suspension After Testing Positive for Banned Substance.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced on Thursday that World No. 2 player Iga Swiatek will face a one-month suspension following a positive test for a banned substance called trimetazidine, which contaminated her melatonin that she was taking regularly. She said it was “unintentional.”
Because the positive test was from contamination, the ITIA said Swiatek’s result was “at the lowest end of the range for no significant fault or negligence.”
The suspension is already almost over as she previously served part of it from Sept. 12 to Oct. 4, when she missed three tournaments. Swiatek forfeited $158,944 from the Cincinnati Open, where she reached the semifinals, because it was the first tournament she played after the positive test. She will be cleared to play as early as Monday, although the WTA is currently in its season pause.
Swiatek posted an Instagram video on Thursday, detailing the “worst experience” of her life going through the ITIA proceedings.
“In the last 2 1/2 months, I was subject to strict ITIA proceedings, which confirmed my innocence,” Swiatek said. “The only positive doping test in my career, showing unbelievably low level of a banned substance I’ve never heard about before, put everything I’ve worked so hard for my entire life into question. Both me and my team had to deal with tremendous stress and anxiety. Now everything has been carefully explained, and with a clean slate I can go back to what I love most.”
