Iga Swiatek Claims Current Doping System 'Gives Anxiety' To Tennis Players

Thursday, 24 April 2025 at 15:37

byErik Virostko

The recent high-profile doping cases put the current doping system under the spotlight, which is why many players, including Iga Swiatek, came out to criticize it.

Tennis players have to take doping tests regularly. Since they need to be tested also when they don't compete, tennis players must report their location to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

That's something that Andrey Rublev criticized when talking about the doping system this year in Madrid, and the current WTA World No. 2 player, Iga Swiatek, has a very similar opinion to the Russian player.

Speaking in Madrid, Swiatek said that the way the doping system works at the moment gives players anxiety, as they always have to report their location.

The reason why the tennis players are anxious is that if they are not found at the reported location three times within a timespan of 12 months, they can be suspended from competing.

"Honestly, after a couple of years you think about this all the time. It gives a little anxiety and I'm not only talking about me, because I kind of got used to the system and I've been through the worst, and I was able to come back from that and I was able to solve it, so I feel like nothing can kind of stop me."

"I know from even other players that it's not easy, and the whole system is just tough because I didn't have much control over what happened to me, and I can imagine some players, they're always scared that it can happen to them."

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"With always giving your location and everything, sometimes, system-wise, it's just hard to catch up. Because like every day when we're travelling we need to literally say where we are. If we forget we might get a no show and then three no shows and it's a ban. So, yeah, there's a lot of pressures with that, and it's not easy to manage that, but it is what it is."

During her press conference in the Spanish capital, Swiatek also spoke about expectations that fans have when it comes to her results. The Polish player made fans used to seeing her win almost every week, and now, that she has gone without a title for almost a year, many are surprised. However, according to Swiatek, they don't understand that she is just a human as well.

"It's crazy, but people are not aware when they think about other people that we're also human. The expectations for sure are high, but they're high every year for me since 2022."

"I'm just trying to keep my job and not really focus on what people say. Honestly, they have no idea what's going on in any of our lives, so if they think some things, they can just think, but it's not necessarily the truth. But for sure I'm grateful that they have high hopes."