Iga Swiatek admits the strict doping protocols can be stressful for players but feels like she has “been through the worst” after surviving her positive test over contaminated melatonin.
Paranoia has spread amongst tennis players after both Swiatek and Jannik Sinner failed drug tests without committing any intentional doping.
Swiatek served a one-month suspension at the end of last year after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that the over-the-counter melatonin she had taken as a sleep aid was contaminated with the banned substance trimetazidine.
Sinner is currently serving a three-month ban after testing positive twice for banned substance clostebol, which entered his system via his physiotherapist, who was treating a cut on his hand with an over-the-counter spray that contains the substance.
“Honestly, after a couple of years you think about this all the time,” said Swiatek on Wednesday, when asked about the extra precautions players have to take to adhere to anti-doping rules.
“It gives a little anxiety and I’m not only talking about me, because I kind of got used to the system and I’ve been through the worst, and I was able to come back from that and I was able to solve it, so I feel like nothing can kind of stop me.”
While Swiatek has managed to come out the other side, she is aware of the general state of panic that has resulted from her and Sinner’s cases.
“I know from even other players that it’s not easy, and the whole system is just tough because I didn’t have much control over what happened to me, and I can imagine some players, they’re always scared that it can happen to them,” added the world number two.
The whereabouts system used by anti-doping authorities dictates that an athlete must specify one hour of every single day of the year where they will be at a specific location and would be available for testing.
“With always giving your location and everything, sometimes, system-wise, it’s just hard to catch up,” explained Swiatek. “Because like every day when we’re travelling we need to literally say where we are. If we forget we might get a no show and then three no shows and it’s a ban.
“So, yeah, there’s a lot of pressures with that, and it’s not easy to manage that, but it is what it is.”
Tunisian Ons Jabeur echoed Swiatek’s sentiments and said she is “traumatised” by the sound of her door bell, which frequently rings at 5 am for drug testing.
“I know we need to keep a clean sport and that’s very important. But yeah, definitely, I’m just very worried,” said the three-time major finalist.
