Controversy hit women’s tennis recently as Iga Swiatek finished serving a one-month doping ban. The Polish star had tested positive for a prohibited substance in an out-of-competition sample in August, but her defence was accepted by the ITIA. The ITIA accepted Swiatek’s defence that the result was positive due to contamination of a regular non-prescription medicine melatonin, which was manufactured and sold in her native country Poland. Swiatek received support from many current players, but also got some mixed reactions.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka broke her silence on the doping controversy in a diplomatic manner. Speaking to The National, she said, “People are really used to overreacting before figuring stuff out, so I don’t want to leave any comments. I believe in clean sport and nothing else I can add.”
Sabalenka overthrew Swiatek from the No. 1 spot in September this year, and has been in that position since then.
The banned substance which Swiatek reportedly consumed was trimetazidine. She was handed a low penalty, and missed three tournaments. Going into 2025, she will look to retain her no. 1 spot from Sabalenka, but it will be a tough task.
She has held that position for a total of 125 weeks, which puts her in seventh position on the all-time list for number of weeks spent as No. 1. She has clinched the French Open title four times, and is also a US Open champion.