Iga Swiatek says she is more cautious managing her supplements and medications after failing a drugs test which resulted in her being handed a one-month suspension.
Last season the world No.2 tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) and was provisionally suspended for 22 days between September and October. Swiatek managed to overturn the penalty by providing evidence that the cause of her failed test was a contaminated jet lag medication she was taking. An independent hearing later concluded that the tennis star bore “no significant fault or negligence” and did not intentionally take trimetazidine. She was later issued with a one-month suspension (including the 22 days she was provisionally suspended) with her level of fault deemed to be at the ‘lowest end of the range.’
Speaking to reporters ahead of the Australian Open, Swiatek says she is taking extra care in managing what goes into her body to avoid another incident occurring again.
“The supplements and medications that I always use, I use kind of similar ones for over the years, they are already good,” Tennis majors quoted Swiatek as saying.
“I knew that they are good because they are good brands, like, they have certificates and everything.
“Now I have the certificates for every batch, every lot number. After I finish a lot number, I keep some in the storage kind of to be ready when something happens. The thing is, it wasn’t so obvious that I’m going to have this melatonin to test. If I would (have) run out of it at US Open, for example, I would just throw it out, the box, and then I wouldn’t know. Now I’m kind of keeping everything to be ready just in case.”
During the early stages of her case, Swiatek said she wasn’t playing tournaments in Asia due to ‘personal reasons.’ A situation she said made her feel ‘awkward.’
“For the first two or three weeks, I just was focused on myself because I wasn’t in a good place. I had trouble just being on court. I thought that tennis did this to me a little bit. I didn’t really read stuff because the priority was me and my well-being.” She said.
“After, it got pretty awkward. We chose for the first tournament to say personal reasons because we honestly thought the suspension is going to be lifted soon.
“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.
“Since we didn’t know what’s going to happen because we had no control over ITIA’s (International Tennis Integrity Agency) decision, we also couldn’t make any logical plan. We started with personal issues because I needed also time to figure everything out.”
Eager to put the controversy behind her, Swiatek is hoping to claim her first Australian Open title. She started her season at the United Cup where Poland reached the final.
“United Cup, you know that you’re going to play at least two singles matches. It’s important,” she said.
“I already played some, like, thrilling matches that were even too long sometimes.
“I also feel like I had tough moments, I had easy moments, and I had moments where I needed to push through. I think it’s great preparation before the first Slam.”
Swiatek will play Katerina Siniakova in the first round at the Australian Open.
