Iga Swiatek Accepts One-Month Suspension After Positive Doping Test
World number two and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has agreed to a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.
The 23-year-old, who is the reigning French Open champion, tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a heart medication, in an out-of-competition sample collected in August 2024, when she was ranked world number one.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) determined that the positive result was due to contamination from melatonin, a non-prescription sleep aid manufactured in Poland, which Swiatek had taken to manage jet lag and sleep issues. As a result, the ITIA classified her fault as “No Significant Fault or Negligence,” placing it at the lowest level.
Swiatek addressed the situation on Instagram, saying, “In the last two-and-a-half months, I was subject to strict ITIA proceedings, which confirmed my innocence. The only positive doping test in my career, showing an unbelievably low level of a banned substance I’d never heard of, put everything I’ve worked so hard for into question. Both me and my team had to deal with tremendous stress and anxiety. Now everything has been carefully explained, and with a clean slate, I can go back to what I love most.”
Swiatek was provisionally suspended on 12 September 2024 and missed three tournaments before successfully appealing the suspension. On 22 September, she informed an independent tribunal that the source of the positive test had been traced to a contaminated product from her home country of Poland. After further testing confirmed her account, the ITIA offered a one-month suspension, which Swiatek accepted on Wednesday.
Swiatek’s suspension will run until 4 December 2024, as her provisional suspension was lifted on 4 October. In addition to the suspension, she was required to forfeit her prize money from her semifinal run at the Cincinnati Open, which took place immediately after the positive test.
As a result of the suspension, Swiatek missed the Korea Open (16-22 September), China Open (25 September – 6 October), and Wuhan Open (7-13 October), as she was suspended during the entry deadline.
The ITIA did not disclose the details of her provisional suspension, as Swiatek successfully appealed within 10 days of the notice.
ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse commented, “Once the source of the TMZ had been identified, it became clear that this was a highly unusual case involving a contaminated product, which in Poland is a regulated medication. However, because the product does not carry the same designation globally, it does not eliminate any level of fault. Considering the nature of the medication and all the circumstances, the fault has been placed at the lowest end of the scale.”
