Iga Swiatek, the world's second-best tennis player, has accepted a one-month ban for violating the tennis anti-doping program. The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced this on Thursday. Swiatek tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a banned substance.
Back in August, Swiatek tested positive in a sample outside of competitions. After an investigation, the ITIA determined that the positive sample was the result of Swiatek taking over-the-counter melatonin for sleep problems.
Since the positive sample was determined to be accidental, the ITIA classified Swiatek's culpability as “No material fault or negligence.”
In a video posted to Instagram, Swiatek said she was worried about how the positive test would affect her career.
“The whole thing will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life. It took a lot to get back to training after the situation almost broke my heart, so there were a lot of tears and a lot of sleepless nights,” said Swiatek. “The worst thing about it was the uncertainty. I didn’t know what would happen to my career, how things would end, or if I would even be allowed to play tennis.”
Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion, is coming off a year in which she won the French Open and won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This is not the only doping scandal that has plagued tennis in recent months. Top-ranked men's tennis player Jannik Sinner tested positive twice for a banned anabolic steroid in March. However, it was also determined that Sinner's positive test was unintentional, and he avoided suspension entirely.
