What happened in these minutes is sensational: ITIA has banned Iga Swiatek for one month for testing positive for the doping substance trimetazidine during an out-of-competition check in August 2024.
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Swiatek was suspended from 22 September 22 to 4 October2024, missing three tournaments. She has only eight more days of her suspension left to serve.
The Polish player's defense said the positivity was due to the contamination of a regular melatonin-based drug, sold in Poland without a prescription, taken by the WTA No.2 for jet-lag problems, with an intake, therefore, not intentional.
According to International Tennis Integrity Agency, the 5-time Slam champion was found responsible for negligence in the mildest degree provided for by the rules. Swiatek also loses the prize money won in Cincinnati, the tournament immediately following the check.
After a season-ending in which she lost the throne of the WTA ranking, the 23-year-old from Warsaw recently recalled her rise to the top, which coincided with the retirement of former No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.
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"I didn't understand what happened. Ash was the undisputed leader, she was playing the best tennis. Even though I knew where I was going to hit her, it was still difficult to deal with her shots. At first I found her choice strange, I felt it was a great loss for the sport. I have a lot of respect for her. Also, I had a sense of what the end of her career would mean to me. I had only been No. 2 for a few days and suddenly I had the opportunity to climb to the top of the rankings," she explained.
We recall Iga closed a season in which she won the French Open, her 4th title in Paris anf 5th Slam of her young and amazing career, despite - as I said above - she lost the the WTA leadership in favor of Aryna Sabalenka.
