Australian Open: Iga Swiatek’s excuses during doping ban were confusing. Tennis news

Iga Swiatek said she was confused about not being able to be honest about not attending the tour.

The world No. 2, who served a one-month ban after failing a doping test in August, was tainted by an approved medication she takes to combat jet lag.

That news wasn’t revealed until November, when it was announced that she had missed three races in the fall while on a temporary suspension, which she said at the time was due to personal reasons, fatigue and a coaching change.

It was another big blow to the sport’s reputation, after men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner announced in August that he had failed two undisclosed tests in March.

Speaking ahead of the Australian Open, Swiatek said: “I would say the first three weeks were very chaotic. There was no way to get any answers to the questions. We just focused on finding the source.”

“But I have to say for sure, it definitely wasn’t easy. It was probably the worst time of my life. And because I had no control over the situation and no chance to avoid it. Even worse because I’m a bit of a control freak.”

“It was crazy and really sketchy for me to have the feeling that everything I’ve built can be taken away so quickly because of something you don’t control.

“In the first two or three weeks I wasn’t in a good place, so I just focused on myself. I was just having trouble on the court. I thought that tennis had done that to me a little bit. I didn’t do it right. Read things because the priority was me and my safety.

“Afterwards, it became a shame. We chose it for the first race for personal reasons because we thought the ban would be lifted soon.

“It was clear from the beginning that something was contaminated because the amount of this substance in my urine was so low that it must have been contaminated.

“We had no control over the decision of the ITIA[International Tennis Integrity Agency]so we didn’t know what was going to happen, so we couldn’t make any rational plans. I wanted time to figure everything out, so we started with personal issues.”

After her suspension was lifted, Swiatek returned to play in the WTA Finals and Billie Jean King Cup finals before the news broke.

She admits she is afraid of what the reaction might be but thanked her rivals for their support.

“Besides the fact that I couldn’t play, that was the worst thing for me,” she said. Because I always worked hard to be a good example, to show my integrity, to show good behavior.

“I was still a bit worried about not having any control over it. But in the locker room the girls are great. I can already see that they will really support us in this exhibition in Abu Dhabi (in December).

“Most of them came to me. They were like, ‘Hey, how can we avoid this? Is there a way we can be more careful?’ They worry that this could happen to them too.

“There are a lot of great players – I won’t mention names – they are really supportive. I appreciate it a lot because it made me feel good when I came back and I didn’t know how it would be.”

Second seed Swiatek will face Czech Katarina Siniakova in the opening round in Melbourne.

What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?

• ABN AMRO Open Rotterdam (ATP 500) – 3-9 February
• Dallas Open (ATP 500) – February 3-9
• Delray Beach Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
• IEB+ Argentina Open (ATP 250) – 10-16 February
• Open 13 Provence (ATP 250) – 10-16 February
• Transylvania Open (WTA 250) – February 3-9
• Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) – 3-8 February
• Qatar Total Energy Open (WTA 1000) – 9-15 February
• Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship (WTA 1000) – 16-22 February

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