Iga Swiatek's case mimicked as another player banned for trimetazidine contamination

The dangers of accidental contamination in tennis were demonstrated again after a player was suspended in a case that Iga Swiatek can relate to.

Tennis fans worldwide were left stunned in November 2024 when Swiatek's one-month ban for testing positive for trimetazidine was revealed. The investigation had been kept hidden until it was completed, and the Pole accepted the punishment.

Although a shocking development, the case details show Swiatek was unfortunate, and some question whether she deserved any suspension after being completely unaware of the trimetazidine entering her system.

Swiatek purchased melatonin tablets from a Polish manufacturer, a legal product used by countless players. The six-time Grand Slam champion could not reasonably have expected them to be contaminated with traces of trimetazidine.

Nonetheless, Swiatek's acceptance of the one-month ban, most of which she had already served provisionally, was entirely understandable. It allowed her to move on without missing any of this season's tournaments.

The 2025 Wimbledon winner will be able to empathize with Frederico Ferreira Silva more than anyone. Silva has been handed a suspension of the same length after testing positive for trimetazidine.

In February 2025, Silva tested positive for the banned substance. Like Swiatek, it was pivotal for the Portuguese player to find what caused it, since a failure to do so would have risked a much longer ban.

Thankfully for Silva, he successfully proved that his violation of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme was caused by a regulated prescription medication being contaminated, an unintentional development.

Silva's claims were rightly scrutinized by a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory, which confirmed that the trimetazidine was in the player's medication as he claimed, definitively absolving him of deliberate doping.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency's statement about Silva's suspension stated that the player's fault was very low because the contaminated product, 1000mg of Daflon, was issued by a special physician and purchased by the Portuguese Federation.

However, Silva did not entirely escape a suspension because a recall notice had previously been issued for trimetazidine contamination of another Daflon product, something Silva was or could have been aware of since the facts were available.

The former ATP world No. 168 was absent for longer than a month while provisionally banned. That means he can immediately return to action without facing any further time on the sidelines.

Sinner's doping case was even more controversial than Swiatek's. He tested positive for clostebol at the 2024 Indian Wells Open after being accidentally contaminated from a massage given to him by physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi.

The four-time Grand Slam winner ultimately served a three-month suspension. Naldi had used a product containing clostebol for a cut finger, which Umbero Ferrara, Sinner's fitness coach, gave him.

Sinner fired Ferrara and Naldi before the 2024 US Open, claiming he could no longer trust them. Many were left utterly astonished when the Italian rehired Ferrara shortly after the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. He outlined his reasons for doing that, but did not enjoy discussing it.