Iga Świątek in TVN24: my suspension was an horror and immense disappointment

The last few months of Iga Świątek's career have been a real rollercoaster of emotions. The news that the sample taken during an anti-doping test in Cincinnati returned a positive result completely shocked the Polish tennis player. What followed was a nerve-wracking effort to prove the athlete's innocence. While it seems that the temporary suspension and loss of some points will be the only consequences of the whole controversy, it had a much greater impact on Świątek than could have been expected.

"The biggest lesson for me will be that I won't always be in control of everything," she admitted in her conversation with Anita Werner on Fakty po Faktach. "I am a person who controls practically every aspect of my life. The fact that my fate is not entirely in my hands, and whether I can play tennis or not depends on many other factors over which I have no control, has taught me that such situations will arise, and I have to deal with them."

The news of the positive test result reached Świątek on September 12. At the time, she was in the middle of a photo session.

"My reaction was very intense. It was a mix of confusion and panic. There was a lot of crying," she recalls. "It was an email. We get notifications by email and text when there's a problem or when we need to complete something in the documents. I opened this message, thinking it was one of those automatic notifications that players get when they need to do something. But this time, it turned out the email was much more serious. I couldn't even finish reading it because I was already in tears. My managers said my reaction was like someone had died or something serious had happened to my health. I'm glad I wasn't alone because I could give them my phone and show them what had happened..."

"What was going through your mind, what was your first thought?" Werner asked.

"I thought it might be a mistake. I really didn’t understand what was happening. The name of the substance itself was completely unfamiliar to me, I had never heard of its origin. I didn’t think much, I was just overwhelmed with emotions," the tennis player explained.

A positive result from the anti-doping test automatically meant a suspension for the player. She couldn’t compete in tournaments in Seoul, Beijing, and Wuhan, and as a result, she lost her top spot in the WTA rankings. How was this possible when it turned out that Świątek was ultimately not at fault?

According to the tennis player, it was a consequence of stringent regulations and the fact that anti-doping laboratories are now much more sensitive than the machines used by drug manufacturers. What saved Świątek was, among other things, the fact that she still had the contaminated medication containing the banned trimetazidine, which she could have tested to prove her "lack of significant guilt," as stated in the report from the Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). She accepted the suspension and its consequences, considering it a procedural necessity.

"I would have preferred it to say 'innocent,' but I admit, for me, it’s just paperwork and bureaucracy," she said. "What mattered most to me was that I could start the new season with a clean slate and just focus on playing. Since I got the information that my suspension would end in just over a week, I’ve kind of accepted the situation. The fact that I received such a penalty, that’s just formalities. They had to follow their rules because it’s not like I was judged by a person; we always had to follow the procedures. Even the decision regarding the one-month suspension was simply dictated by the procedures."

The quick and positive resolution of Świątek’s case sparked a discussion in the tennis world about the different treatment of players, also bringing up a similar case involving Jannik Sinner. The Romanian Simona Halep reminded people of her struggles, having fought for a reduction in her four-year suspension to nine months only after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. In Poland, there was much talk about Kamil Majchrzak’s case.

"I know that people automatically need to compare such situations to others that have happened before, but the truth is that each of these cases is completely different. And the process of proving innocence will also vary accordingly," Świątek stated. "It’s hard to compare me to Sinner, Halep, or Kamil Majchrzak because each of us is dealing with a different issue. I think that’s more of a question for ITIA than for the player. My fate, just like others’, was in their hands, and they decide how each case unfolds. I trust that this process is objective, that everything is done according to the rules, and that no one judges a player either way based on their ranking. But whether that is actually the case, I think that’s the question for ITIA," the player concluded.

Świątek admitted, however, that her high ranking helped her immediately take steps to prove her innocence, and her financial resources allowed her to hire the best specialists.

"Certainly, the fact that I have such a position helped me gather people around me who, as soon as I learned about the situation, went to great lengths to help me," Świątek said. "A few hours after I found out, we all met and brainstormed. I hired a lawyer from the United States who specializes in such matters. The fact that I have already earned a lot of money and can afford to spend it on my defense, without a second thought, definitely helped. I know that many athletes don’t have such opportunities, and I think that’s something that might hold them back, because I actually paid for the entire process," she admitted.

It turns out that proving her innocence cost the Polish tennis player the equivalent of over 400,000 Polish złoty (approx. 100,000 dollars). "I spent about 70,000 dollars on a lawyer, and 15,000 euros on expert opinions and tests," Świątek calculated, noting that she didn’t remember the exact amounts. "On top of that, there was the loss of the prize money from Cincinnati, but, honestly, that didn’t matter to me. The most important thing was to prove my innocence. I'm sharing these amounts so people can realize the kind of problems athletes face, especially those who don’t earn as much money as I do on the court and compete in sports where earnings are much lower," she emphasized.

Asked if she felt more hate or support from the tennis community during this difficult time, Świątek answered without hesitation: "Without a doubt, I received more signs of support, especially in private messages."

"I spoke with many players, and almost all of them told me that this is their biggest fear, that something like this could happen to them too. They asked me what I would do next. At the beginning, when no one had read the documentation yet, they asked about the medicine and where the melatonin came from. I felt their support and understanding, and I think most athletes realize that this could happen to them as well. But, of course, there are also exceptions," she said.

"At first, my main concern was simply proving my innocence. Once I proved that, I was most afraid of the public’s reaction and what people would think when my name came to their mind. I hope that, despite everything, they - just like me - will be able to move past it," the 23-year-old added.

Asked to summarize the last two and a half months, Świątek briefly reflected on everything she had gone through.

"Horror. And a huge disappointment," she admitted. "At first, I thought this was all happening because I play tennis. Just stepping onto the court was painful. If it hadn’t been for my sparring partner, Tomek Moczek, who at the beginning was doing training sessions with me like you do with kids - we were just having fun on the court - I think I wouldn’t have gone out to practice at all," said the five-time Grand Slam champion.

"The truth is, I love playing tennis, but not enough to sacrifice my honor or my values. I was put in a situation where suddenly people could judge me very negatively because of what happened," she explained her brief, thankfully, "disgust with tennis."

"I had no control over this, and in a way, being an athlete got me into this situation. At first, I had to do a lot of work to not think that way and to find joy in tennis again," she stated.