French Open champion Iga Swiatek BANNED from tennis after testing positive for prohibited substance

  • The world number 2 served 22 days of her one-month suspension two months ago
  • The last eight days coincide with a period of no tennis, so her suspension has essentially been served
  • It was accepted that her drug test failure was caused by contaminated melatonin

World No. 2 Iga Swiatek has been handed a one-month ban in rock tennis’ latest doping scandal.

The reigning French Open champion tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug trimetazidine in August and was provisionally suspended the following month.

Swiatek, who at the time blamed ‘personal reasons’ for her absence from tournaments, has now accepted a one-month ban for breaching anti-doping rules.

However, having already served a 22-day suspension, the Pole will not miss any more tennis as she will now serve the remaining eight days if there is no competition.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted Swiatek’s explanation that her failed drug test was caused by contamination of the non-prescription drug melatonin, which she was taking for jet lag and sleep problems.

Subsequently, the ITIA said its level of error was at the lower end of the range for ‘no significant error or negligence’.

French Open champion Iga Swiatek has been banned from tennis for a month

The reigning French Open champion tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug trimetazidine

The reigning French Open champion tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug trimetazidine

Swiatek’s doping case is a further blow to her sport’s reputation, just two months after No. 1 Jannik Sinner avoided a ban despite testing positive twice for the banned steroid clostebol in March – something the World Anti-Doping Agency is now appealing .

In an Instagram statement, Swiatek described the past three months as “the worst experience of my life” and insisted she had “done nothing wrong.”

The five-time Grand Slam singles champion wrote: ‘The only positive doping test of my career, which showed incredibly low levels of a banned substance I have never heard of, put everything I have worked so hard for all my life in doubt. . Both I and my team were dealing with enormous stress and anxiety.

‘Now everything has been carefully explained and I can get back to doing what I love most with a clean slate. I know I will be stronger than ever. I’m just relieved it’s over.”

Trimetazidine, also known as TMZ, is normally used as a heart medication due to its ability to improve blood flow.

It is the drug that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for in the run-up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics before being cleared to compete, and was also the substance at the center of the scandal surrounding Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

After Swiatek was provisionally suspended on September 12, she missed the Korea Open, the China Open and the Wuhan Open, losing her No. 1 ranking.

She then successfully appealed her ban, allowing her to play in the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia and the Billie Jean King Cup in Malaga.

It was the substance at the center of the scandal surrounding Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva

It was the substance at the center of the scandal surrounding Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva

It comes after No. 1 Jannik Sinner avoided a ban despite testing positive twice for the banned steroid clostebol

It comes after No. 1 Jannik Sinner avoided a ban despite testing positive twice for the banned steroid clostebol

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Despite now having accepted an anti-doping rule breach, she will be cleared to play again on Wednesday, although she has been fined the £125,000 she earned at the Cincinnati Open, the event that followed her positive test.

“Once the source of the TMZ was identified, it became clear that this was a highly unusual instance of a contaminated product, which is a regulated drug in Poland,” said ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse.

‘The product does not have the same name worldwide, and the fact that a product is a regulated drug in one country may not in itself be sufficient to prevent possible errors.

‘Taking into account the nature of the medication and all the circumstances, it does place that error at the lower end of the scale.’