“Been Through the Worst”- Iga Swiatek Opens Up About Her Doping Saga and How It Helped Her Bounce Back Stronger
There’s a famous line that says, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Talking about being one of the toughest in women’s tennis, Iga Swiatek had to overcome a lot of hurdles in the last few months. Last year, Swiatek served a one-month ban after testing positive for a banned substance (TMZ), which is used as a heart medication. She was provisionally suspended on September 12, 2024, before she missed three tournaments (Korea Open, China Open, and Wuhan Open). That news was not announced until November, but later on, while explaining that situation, Swiatek said, the first three weeks were “pretty chaotic” and also admitted that it was probably the “worst time” of her life. But now that ‘worst phase’ in her life has helped her build a much stronger character!
In December 2024, while speaking about the doping ban, Swiatek said, “I was scared that most people were going to turn their back on me.” After that, in January 2025, during an interview with Tennis Insider Club, she explained her situation during that phase by saying, “You can be at peace with yourself that you didn’t do anything wrong, but no one actually treats you like that… Especially the people that are kind of prosecuting you. Even when you’re telling the truth, you feel like they treat you like a liar.“
After having fought for glory in the past 8 years, Swiatek thought people would then look at her a bit “differently” after that controversial incident. It was three weeks of “crying daily!“ She faced a lot of criticism in the tennis world, but there were few who stood beside her in her tough times. Fast forward to April 2025, and Swiatek is now keen to make a stronger comeback! After having played nearly 29 matches, she has managed to win 22 out of them. Although Swiatek hasn’t won a title so far, she has already made it three SFs this year. So, just before starting her campaign at the 2025 Madrid Open, Swiatek was seen highlighting a bit about how hard it was for her to make this comeback.
During a recent interview, she was asked to share her thoughts on the extra precautions that players have to take to adhere to anti-doping rules. In reply to that, she said, “Honestly, after a couple of years, you think about this all the time. 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.“
Ever since Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner’s failed doping tests, there has been paranoia spread amongst the tennis players. Sinner is currently serving a three-month ban after testing positive for a banned substance, Clostebol, last year. Talking about this state of panic in the tennis world after these two incidents, Swiatek said, “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.“
The whereabouts system used by anti-doping authorities dictates that an athlete must specify one hour of every single day of the year when they will be at a specific location and will be available for testing. Swiatek feels sometimes it becomes really “hard to catch up,” and she explained, “If we forget, we might get a no-show, and then three no-shows and it’s a ban.” So there always remains a bit of pressure that is not very easy to manage all the time. Even her peer, Ons Jabeur, was recently seen echoing the same sentiment on this, saying she’s a bit “worried” nowadays.
Amid all these, Swiatek is currently eyeing to retain her crown at the 2025 Madrid Open. What did she say before starting her campaign at the Spanish capital, though?
Iga Swiatek gears up to face the teenage sensation, Alexandra Eala, for the second time this season
Just a few weeks ago, the 19-year-old Filipina, Alexandra Eala, stunned everyone by defeating the five-time Grand Slam champion, Iga Swiatek, in the QF of the Miami Open by 6-2, 7-5. But we must not forget that Swiatek is a completely different player when it comes to the clay court. In fact, the 2024 champion has a win-loss record of 13-2 at the Miami Open. So, considering all these factors, even Eala claimed, “Even if it’s against the same player every time – doesn’t matter if I play her at the same time next year in Miami or in Madrid next year, it’s going to be a different story than the last one.“
Swiatek currently has a 7,383 ranking points, and if she manages to defend her title here, then she’d also manage to hold on to her number 2 spot no matter what in the WTA Rankings.
Interesting Fact: If Iga Swiatek wins the title this time, then she’d join the likes of Serena Williams and Simona Halep by becoming just the third woman in the tournament’s history to successfully defend her title in Madrid.
So, there are already a lot of expectations surrounding her. What does Swiatek have to say on this? “It’s crazy, but people are not aware when they think about other people that we’re also human. The expectations for sure are high, but they’re high every year for me since 2022. I’m just trying to keep my job and not really focus on what people say. Honestly, they have no idea what’s going on in any of our lives, so if they think some things, they can just think, but it’s not necessarily the truth. But for sure I’m grateful that they have high hopes.”
She also stated that she knows this place pretty well and hence, she’ll try to use all her experience to excel in this tournament. Swiatek also mentioned she doesn’t want to pay heed to what happened in Miami. Do you think she can beat Alexandra Eala this time?
