Iga Swiatek, world number 2, suspended for one month for doping

In Tennis, the news at the end of the season was marked by the retirement of Rafael Nadal. But the year 2024 was also that of the return of doping cases in the world of the little yellow ball. Thursday, November 28, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that the Polish Iga Swiatek was sanctioned with a one-month suspension after a positive test for a banned substance carried out in August, before the Cincinatti tournament (Ohio).

The test revealed the presence of “ trimetazidine, in a sample taken out of competition”explains the ITIA in a press release. According to the world number 2 (she was first at the time of the test), this positive test is the consequence of taking an over-the-counter medication, melatonin, which the Polish woman used for jet lag and sleep problems. .

The agency retained the unintentional nature of taking this prohibited substance. For her, the degree of fault of the five-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments – including four times at Roland Garros, the last in 2024 – is “the weakest of the spectrum”which explains why the sanction was limited to one month.

La Polonaise first stopped from September 12 to October 4. On this date, his provisional suspension was lifted pending “for further investigation” after initial explanations have been provided, Iga Swiatek’s team advances. Between now and December 4, she will serve the last remaining 8 days of suspension. At the end of September, Swiatek, 23, notably missed the Beijing tournament, an absence which she had justified at the time by reasons “personal reasons”.

The previous Jannik Sinner

The player reacted by posting a six-minute video on her social networks. The bronze medalist in singles at the Paris Olympic Games recounts her last weeks. “ My team and I have had to deal with enormous stress and anxiety. Today everything has been carefully explained and, with a clean slate, I can return to what I love most”she defends herself. “Over the past two and a half months I have been subject to a strict ITIA process, which has confirmed my innocence. »

“The only positive drug test of my career, showing an incredibly low level of a banned substance I had never heard of before, called into question everything I have worked so hard for my entire life”she explains again. “This case is a vital reminder of (…) the importance of players thinking carefully about the use of dietary supplements and medications »estimates the ITIA for its part.

Earlier in the season, another tennis figure tested positive for a banned product. At the end of August, the Italian Jannik Sinner was in fact cleared by the ITIA after clostebol was found in his body during two checks in March, during the tournament in Indian Wells (California). The body then estimated that the world number 1 – who notably won two Grand Slam tournaments this season – was contaminated involuntarily. At the end of September, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), however, appealed the non-suspension of Jannik Sinner, claiming “one to two years” suspension. It now remains to be seen whether WADA will also appeal in the case of Iga Swiatek.