World number two and French Open champion, Iga Swiatek, has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ), the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed on Thursday.
Swiatek’s positive test was based on an out-of-competition sample collected in August. However, the ITIA concluded that the positive result was due to contamination from her medication, melatonin, which was produced and sold in Poland. Swiatek had been using melatonin to manage jet lag and sleep issues.
Acknowledging there was no fault or negligence on her part, the ITIA imposed a one-month suspension, which Swiatek accepted. She had already been provisionally suspended from September 22 to October 4, during which she missed three tournaments, counting towards her sanction. This left her with eight days remaining on the suspension.
Furthermore, Swiatek forfeited her prize money from the Cincinnati Open, which immediately followed her positive test.
Swiatek expressed the emotional toll of the situation, calling it the “worst experience of my life.” In a statement on Instagram, she shared, “In the past two and a half months, I have been subject to strict ITIA proceedings, which ultimately confirmed my innocence.”
She continued, “The only positive doping test in my career, with an unbelievably low level of a substance I had never even heard of, put everything I’ve worked so hard for my entire life into question. Both my team and I had to endure immense stress and anxiety. Now, with everything cleared up, I can return to doing what I love the most.”
