Iga Swiatek opens up about fear of backlash after doping ban

The five-time Grand Slam champion tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned metabolic agent, on August 12 ahead of the Cincinnati Open.

On November 28, it was announced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that Swiatek had received a one-month ban as it was deemed she carried "no significant fault or negligence."

The 23-year-old Pole also had to forfeit the 390 ranking points and $159,000 she earned for reaching the semi-finals in Cincinnati.

The ITIA accepted Swiatek's explanation that the substance entered her body due to the contamination of non-prescription medication she had been using for jet lag and sleep issues.

Swiatek was provisionally suspended from September 12 to October 4, meaning she had already served 22 days of her ban on the day the news emerged. She was forced to miss WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan during the suspension period.

The world No 2 returned to action at the WTA Finals in Riyadh at the start of November before ending her 2024 season at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga.

Swiatek is set to begin her 2025 season at the United Cup, with Poland in Group B alongside Norway and Czech Republic. The Polish team, who were runners-up at the 2024 edition, will face Norway in their opening tie in Sydney.

In a press conference ahead of the United Cup, Swiatek spoke about the supportive response she has been met with in Poland following her doping ban.

"I haven't been much on the Internet. I try to just go on with my life and focus on different things, focus on preparing for the season and on tennis, because this is the best thing you can do after a case like that," the four-time French Open winner said.

"But overall, the reaction in Poland basically, because this is mostly what I read, has been pretty supportive. I really, really appreciate that, because even when I missed the China swing and nobody knew why, it wasn't so easy.

"So, after the information about my case was released, I was scared that most of the people are going to turn their back on me. But I felt the support and it's great.

"Obviously there are going to be some negative comments and you're not going to avoid that. I just have to accept that and I don't really care about those, honestly."

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