Poland's Iga Swiatek serves to Italy's Jasmine Paolini during their women's singles final match on Court Philippe-Chatrier on day fourteen of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2024. Alain Jocard, AFP/File

Poland's Iga Swiatek serves to Italy's Jasmine Paolini during their women's singles final match on Court Philippe-Chatrier on day fourteen of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2024. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)

French Open 

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1732862515894AFP__20240608__34VY6XF__v1__HighRes__TennisFraOpen2024.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Poland&#x27;s Iga Swiatek serves to Italy&#x27;s Jasmine Paolini during their women&#x27;s singles final match on Court Philippe-Chatrier on day fourteen of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2024. Alain Jocard, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Poland&#x27;s Iga Swiatek serves to Italy&#x27;s Jasmine Paolini during their women&#x27;s singles final match on Court Philippe-Chatrier on day fourteen of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2024. <em>Alain Jocard, AFP/File</em></span></span></span>PARIS, France -- World number two Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Thursday.</div><p>Swiatek, 23, tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August 2024 when the Polish player was ranked number one in the world.</p><p>The ITIA, however, accepted that it was caused by &quot;the contamination of a regulated non-prescription medication (melatonin), manufactured and sold in Poland that the player had been taking for jet lag and sleep issues&quot;.</p><p>&quot;The violation was therefore not intentional... the player&#x27;s level of fault was considered to be at the lowest end of the range for &#x27;No Significant Fault or Negligence&#x27;,&quot; the ITIA said.</p><p>Reigning French Open champion Swiatek, who has five Grand Slam singles titles -- four at Roland Garros and the 2022 US Open -- accepted the suspension.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m finally allowed... so I instantly want to share with you something that became the worst experience of my life,&quot; an emotional Swiatek said in a post on social media.</p><p>&quot;In the last two-and-a-half months I was subject to strict ITIA proceedings, which confirmed my innocence.</p><p>&quot;The only positive doping test in my career, showing unbelievably low level of a banned substance I&#x27;ve never heard about before, put everything I&#x27;ve worked so hard for my entire life into question.</p><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-1" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC6s5zIgSNH/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=675&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A3067751.8000001907%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-1" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>Swiatek was provisionally suspended from September 22 until October 4, missing three tournaments, which counts towards the sanction, leaving eight days remaining.</p><p>She will also forfeit prize money from the Cincinnati Open, the tournament directly following the test, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the final.</p><p>&quot;I know I will be stronger than ever,&quot; continued Swiatek. &quot;Right now I&#x27;m just relieved it&#x27;s over.</p><p>&quot;I want to be open with you, even though I know I did nothing wrong. Out of respect for my fans and the public, I&#x27;m sharing all the details of this longest and toughest tournament of my career. My biggest hope is that you will stay with me.&quot;</p><div><strong>- WADA &#x27;right to appeal&#x27; -</strong></div><p>In a case similar to that of men&#x27;s world number one Jannik Sinner, Swiatek nevertheless remains under threat of a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appeal.</p><p>&quot;WADA will carefully review this decision and reserves the right to take an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as appropriate,&quot; a spokesperson told AFP.</p><p>Italian Sinner is still waiting for the outcome of the WADA appeal against his initial exoneration for twice testing positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March.</p><p>On Thursday, the ITIA said that Swiatek&#x27;s positive test was not initially made public &quot;in accordance with its regulations&quot;, since she appealed her provisional suspension within the allotted time and had it lifted.</p><p>&quot;Once the source of the TMZ had been established, it became clear that this was a highly unusual instance of a contaminated product, which in Poland is a regulated medicine,&quot; said ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse.</p><p>&quot;This case is an important reminder for tennis players of the strict liability nature of the World Anti-Doping Code and the importance of players carefully considering the use of supplements and medications.&quot;</p><p>The Women&#x27;s Tennis Association (WTA) said it &quot;fully supports Iga during this difficult time&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Iga has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to fair play and upholding the principles of clean sport, and this unfortunate incident highlights the challenges athletes face in navigating the use of medications and supplements,&quot; the WTA said in a statement.</p><p>&quot;The WTA remains steadfast in our support for a clean sport and the rigorous processes that protect the integrity of competition.</p><p>&quot;We also emphasize that athletes must take every precaution to verify the safety and compliance of all products they use, as even unintentional exposure to prohibited substances can have significant consequences.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>World number two Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Thursday.</p>

World number two Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Thursday.

Tennis: Iga Swiatek accepts one-month doping suspension | ABS-CBN

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Tennis: Iga Swiatek accepts one-month doping suspension

Tennis: Iga Swiatek accepts one-month doping suspension

Agence France-Presse

Published Nov 29, 2024 02:43 PM PHT

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