MELBOURNE, Australia — The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has decided not to appeal the one-month suspension of Iga Swiatek, citing her explanation for a positive drug test as “plausible.” This announcement came shortly after Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion and the former top-ranked player in women’s tennis, secured a straightforward 6-0, 6-1 win against Eva Lys, earning her place in the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Swiatek expressed relief regarding the resolution, stating, “Well, for sure, I’m just satisfied that I can get closure, kind of. I can just move on and finish this whole process, because I just want to play tennis and focus on the tournament.” Her suspension stemmed from a positive test for trimetazidine, a prohibited heart medication, which occurred during an out-of-competition screening in August.
In contrast to Swiatek’s situation, WADA has chosen to appeal the exoneration of Jannik Sinner, the current men’s number one player. A hearing has been scheduled for April at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner of any negligence regarding two positive tests for an anabolic steroid from March.
The ITIA had officially announced Swiatek’s case outcome in late November, after she had already faced provisional suspension, which caused her to miss three tournaments in October. Her ban concluded during the offseason of the sport. WADA noted that external legal counsel reviewed Swiatek’s case and determined her contamination explanation was well-supported and aligned with the World Anti-Doping Code, leaving no reasonable grounds for an appeal to the CAS.
Swiatek defended her position, explaining that her positive test was caused by contamination from non-prescription melatonin, which she had been using for sleep and jet lag issues. The ITIA concluded that her level of fault was minimal, stating it fell within the lowest range of “no significant fault or negligence.” WADA confirmed the plausibility of her scenario, indicating there were no scientific reasons to dispute it.
Reflecting on the time spent away from competition leading up to the Australian Open, Swiatek described the experience as “pretty chaotic,” explaining that initially she attributed her absence to personal reasons. “For sure, it wasn’t easy; it was probably, like, the worst time in my life,” she added. She mentioned that they initially labeled the reason for her absence as “personal reasons” because they anticipated a quick resolution to her suspension. “From the beginning, it was obvious that something was contaminated because the level of this substance in my urine was so low that it had to be contamination,” she remarked in Melbourne.
