WADA will not appeal after Swiatek's one-month suspension

WADA's scientific experts considered that the reason given by the Polish player, drug contamination, was «plausible» et “that there would be no scientific reason to challenge it before the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport)”. The four-time Roland-Garros champion, 23, tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a heart medication, in a sample taken out of competition in August, when she was world No.1. The affair only came to light three months later, after the player accepted a one-month suspension. Absent from three tournaments in Asia, she then cited personal reasons.

In his defense, Swiatek then stressed that the result of the test was accidental and that it had been caused by the contamination of an over-the-counter substance, melatonin, used to combat sleep problems. “WADA has carried out a full review of the file relating to the decision of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (Itia), which it received on November 29. WADA's scientific experts confirmed that the specific scenario of contaminated melatonin, as presented by the player (Swiatek) and accepted by Itia, is plausible and that there are no scientific reasons to support it. contest before the CAS”explained the World Anti-Doping Agency in a press release.

Before this announcement from the AMA, Swiatek continued her journey without incident at the Australian Open, winning (6-0, 6-1) in 59 minutes against the German Eva Lys, to climb in the quarter-finals in Melbourne. In a similar case, Jannik Sinner, world number one among men, tested positive and was briefly suspended twice in March due to traces of the steroid clostebol. He was then exonerated by Itia, but WADA nevertheless appealed and it will be examined on April 16 and 17 by the CAS.