Iga Swiatek is “terrified” by the hostile reaction to her doping ban and said she does not expect an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after serving a one-month suspension.
Five-time major winner Swiatek, 23, tested positive for the heart treatment trimetazidine (TMZ) in August, when he was world number one.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that the test results were due to contamination and Swiatek’s brief suspension ended on December 4.
Men’s world number one Jannik Sinner did not receive a ban after failing two tests in March and WADA has appealed the decision – but Swiatek said she did not see “any reason” for a similar outcome in her case.
Regarding the possibility of appealing to WADA, Swiatek said: “I was suspended for a long time and I lost the (world) number one ranking because of that. I also know how the procedure works and I provided all possible evidence.
“To be honest, there’s not much that can be done. So I don’t expect an appeal, but I have no influence on what happens.”
ITIA accepted that Swiatek’s positive test result was caused by contamination with the regulated non-prescription drug melatonin, manufactured and sold in Poland, which Swiatek thought was to treat jet lag and sleep problems.
Swiatek’s error rate was found to be at the lower end of the ‘no significant errors or omissions’ range.
The Pole missed three tournaments – Korea Open, China Open and Wuhan Open – during his suspension. He was also forced to forfeit his prize money from the Cincinnati Open, the tournament that directly followed the test.
Speaking at a press conference before the season-opening United Cup in Australia, the four-time French Open winner addressed the media and public reaction to his suspension for the first time.
Swiatek said: “I think their response was more positive than I thought.
“I think most people understand and those who read the documents and know how the system works know that I did nothing wrong and had no influence on what was going on.
“Overall the reaction, in Poland basically because this is what I read, was quite supportive. I really, really appreciate that, because even though I missed the meeting with China and no one knows why, it wasn’t easy.
“I was afraid that most people would leave me. But I felt the support and it was great. Of course there will be some negative comments and you won’t be able to avoid them. I just have to accept it and to be honest I don’t really care about that.”
