Iga Swiatek Shares 'Horror And Disappointment' Over Reactions To Her Doping Case
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Iga Swiatek admitted that she was devastated by the reaction of fans and some of her colleagues to the news of her positive doping test.
Swiatek started a new chapter in her tennis career. Unfortunately, it is a chapter that she never wanted to start writing, but she couldn't avoid it and now has to deal with the consequences.
She tested positive for a banned substance, and as a result of her positive test, she received a one-month suspension, as the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) was able to confirm that the melatonin pills that the Polish player was taking were contaminated.
Still, she received some form of punishment, as she couldn't compete for one month, and on top of that, she lost points and prize money earned at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, where she reached the quarter-finals.
On top of that, Swiatek also had to deal with the mental effects of such development. Some of her colleagues would want to see her banned for a longer period, and some fans voiced displeasure as well.
Unfortunately for Swiatek, these reactions are not necessarily aimed at her but at the inconsistencies in doping cases, as the likes of Simona Halep had to spend more than a year away from the WTA Tour before returning to competition.
Still, it's Swiatek's name that is tied to most of these comments, as she was the player who tested positive, and as such, she also has to deal with those reactions.
Recently, the World No. 2 player did her first extensive interview about the positive doping test, when she appeared on a show called Fakty po Faktach on Polish broadcaster TVN24.
Speaking on the show, Swiatek admitted that she was hugely disappointed by the reaction of some of the fans to the news of her positive doping test.
"Horror. And a huge disappointment. At first, I thought that all this happened to me because I play tennis. Just going out on the court was painful. The truth is that I love playing tennis, but not enough to sacrifice my honor or my values."
"Here I was put in a situation where suddenly people could judge me very negatively because of what happened."
The 23-year-old player also admitted that for a while, she had to rediscover her love for tennis again, as it was very difficult for her to find pleasure when on the tennis court.
"I had no influence on it and in a sense, the fact that I am an athlete got me into this situation. At first, I had to work very hard not to think that way and find pleasure in tennis again."
The five-time Grand Slam champion also praised her sparring partner, Tomek Moczek, who chose a different approach to their training sessions, making her more motivated to return to the tennis courts.
"If it wasn't for my sparring partner Tomek Moczek, who at the beginning did the same training with me that you do for children, we just had fun on the court, I think I wouldn't go out for training at all."
In 2025, Swiatek will want to close this chapter of her tennis career and prove her haters wrong by adding another Grand Slam title to her collection, but with the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff in the field, that will be a more challenging task than before.
