By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 10, 2025
Integrity matters to Iga Swiatek. So much so that she was in a really dark place during the time that her interim suspension was handed down for having a small trace of the banned substance trimetazidine in her system.
Swiatek says it was the worst moment of her life and she was extremely worried about how the locker room would treat her. She says it has always been important to her to be a good example among her peers, and she thought they might react harshly to her.
“That was the worst thing for me, as people would say,” Swiatek told reporters at the Australian Open media day on Friday. “Because I’ve always worked hard to be a good example, to show my integrity, to show good behavior.”
Swiatek, who eventually received a month-long ban for having the substance in her system due to contaminated melatonin from Poland, says the whole episode “took a toll on her.”
“Not having control over it really scared me a little bit,” she said, before adding that interacting with the other players in the dressing room helped calm her nerves. “In the locker room, the girls are great. I already saw at this exhibition in Abu Dhabi that they are really supportive.”
The Pole’s suspension was officially lifted in December.
Swiatek says many other players wanted to ask him how they could protect themselves from testing positive when they were innocent.
“Most of them even approached me,” she said. “They say, ‘Hey, how can we avoid this? Is there any way we can be more careful?’ They are worried that this could happen to them too. So in the locker room, it’s been great. There are a lot of key players – I won’t name names – who are really supportive. I really appreciate that because it made me feel better when I came back and I didn’t know what it was going to be like.”
Swiatek, seeded second in Melbourne, will face Katerina Siniakova in her first round match. In her first Grand Slam with coach Wim Fissette at her side, she is looking to reach a final in Australia for the first time. Her best result to date is reaching the semi-finals in 2022.
