Tag

Iga Swiatek

Browsing

Men’s top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy and women’s reigning champion Iga Swiatek of Poland claimed opening-round victories at the French Open on Monday.

The 23-year-old Sinner cruised past Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. Although Rinderknech recorded more aces, the Italian secured the win with a consistent serving performance.

“First round matches, they are never easy. I’m very happy with how I handled the situation, especially in the third set. Coming through in straight sets means a lot. We have played each other a couple of times before, so we know each other a little bit. He is an amazing player,” said Sinner, who will face veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the second round.

Second seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain defeated Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, while Chinese hopeful Bu Yunchaokete fell to Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic in a four-set battle, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Four-time champion Swiatek eased past Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova 6-3, 6-3.

“For sure it wasn’t an easy match especially because she played with a lot of freedom and I felt like she was going for her shots, especially the forehands down the line. I knew I needed to stay proactive and try to create and use my weapons and that’s what I did,” said Swiatek.

Iga Swiatek 

The Pole will next face 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, after the 22-year-old Briton overcame China’s Wang Xinyu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Following the first-round exits of Bu, Wang and Yuan Yue, Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen remains the only Chinese player left in the singles draw. She will meet Colombia’s Emiliana Arango in the women’s second round.

Yuan is scheduled to team up with Lulu Sun of New Zealand in the women’s doubles first round on Tuesday.

French Open 2025

Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros

Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app

Will Iga Swiatek’s reign at the French Open continue – or can one of her rivals dethrone the ‘Queen of Clay’?

The 23-year-old is the three-time defending champion in Paris and has won four of the past five titles there.

But Poland’s former world number one does not arrive at Roland Garros with her usual air of invincibility.

Swiatek has not lifted a trophy, or even made a final, since winning the French Open 12 months ago – a period during which she served a one month doping suspension.

Among the main threats to Swiatek’s bid to become the first woman to win four consecutive French Open titles are Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka replaced Swiatek as world number one towards the end of 2024, having won two of the four Grand Slams that year.

The Belarusian, runner-up at the Australian Open in January, is in imperious form. She won the Madrid Open in the build-up to Roland Garros and has won 34 of her 40 matches this season.

American Gauff, meanwhile, has not lost before the quarter-finals in her past four French Open appearances.

Runner-up three years ago, 2023 US Open champion Gauff was denied another title tilt by Swiatek in the semi-finals last year.

Who else can challenge for the title?

American world number three Jessica Pegula is chasing a first major but, after missing last year’s tournament through injury, is yet to go beyond the quarter-finals at the French Open.

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini reached two major finals in a breakout 2024 season, including losing to Swiatek in Paris, and beat Gauff to the Italian Open title in May.

History-making teenager Mirra Andreeva is also a contender. The 18-year-old Russian reached the semi-finals last year and, after becoming the youngest player to win a WTA 1,000 title in February, could become the youngest woman to win a major since 2004.

China’s Zheng Qinwen, meanwhile, won Olympic gold at on the Roland Garros clay last summer and stunned Sabalenka at the Italian Open earlier in May.

Boulter leads British women

Katie Boulter is the top-ranked British woman in the singles draw but the 28-year-old has never won a match at the French Open.

However, Boulter won her first WTA Tour match on clay in Madrid last month before celebrating her first clay-court title at a WTA 125 event in Paris last week.

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu said she was beginning to “build a relationship” with clay courts while completing her French Open preparations in Strasbourg, but suffered an injury scare in her second-round exit.

Raducanu will hope to overcome any back issue quickly, having returned to the world’s top 50, reached the Italian Open fourth round and beat world number 17 Daria Kasatkina on the clay in recent months.

Fellow Britons Sonay Kartal and Jodie Burrage will also contest the women’s singles.

Britons Olivia Nicholls is in the women’s doubles with partner Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia, while Harriet Dart will play alongside Australia’s Kimberley Birrell.

Alcaraz, Sinner, Swiatek and Gauff present as top tennis stars hold showdown talks with Grand Slam bosses

A group of top-10 WTA and ATP stars met with the chiefs of each of the four Grand Slams at Roland Garros on Thursday to discuss prize money, player welfare and giving them more say in decisions that directly impact them at the majors.

As previously reported by the Associated Press, the elite of the women’s and men’s tours, including Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff, signed a letter to the four slams at the end of March, requesting an in-person meeting with the heads of the four majors to bring forth the aforementioned issues.

The meeting, which was initially meant to take place at the Madrid Open last month, finally materialised in Paris on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s start of the French Open.

Talks lasted around an hour and The National understands it was attended by Alcaraz, Sinner and Casper Ruud from the ATP Tour, and Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula and Gauff from the WTA Tour.

The players are seeking a greater percentage of tournament revenue, would like the slams to make financial contributions to the player welfare programmes funded by the tours, and perhaps more importantly, demand a seat at the table when it comes to some of the major decisions taken that impact competition, and their wellbeing at tournaments.

In Madrid a few weeks ago, Gauff noted the disparity between the percentage of revenue dedicated to athletes in other sports compared to tennis.

“As you know, tennis and the percentage shared in revenue isn’t nearly as close as other sports. So, I definitely think that’s something in our sport that we can do. It won’t only benefit top players, it will also benefit lower-ranked players as well,” said the American.

“In other sports, you look at the 100th best player in maybe basketball or football or soccer or anything, and the percentage that they give versus our 100th or 200th best is not great.

“So, I think for us, we kind of understood maybe the privilege and the audience that we can get as top players to kind of make that change. So, we just sent that letter, and hopefully to have the conversation get started, and hopefully how that can improve in the future.”

The majors have been increasing their prize money commitment almost every year. This year, Roland Garros is offering a total prize pot of €56.352 million, up 5.21 per cent from last year. There will be prize money increases in every round and the men’s and women’s singles champions will each earn €2.55 million.

Gauff added: “I’m very aware that we are professional athletes, and we do live a very privileged life and make money doing something that, you know, is pretty easy. Not easy, but you know what I mean. I think it’s just a very nuanced conversation.”

“I always say this, especially as a female athlete in tennis, I always say that when I look at other sports, we’re very privileged. You look at WNBA and even some of the soccer, and the money they’re getting for the amount of effort they put in is not close.

“So, I’m very lucky that tennis had pioneers like Billie Jean King and Venus Williams [who] started that conversation very early on. So, yeah, I think it’s just continuing that conversation within our sport, but also having that conversation so that other sports can reach that too.”

The fact that the women and men are coming together to raise such issues is fairly unprecedented, especially in recent tennis history.

Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek
MASON, OHIO – AUGUST 19: Iga Swiatek of Poland congratulates Coco Gauff after their match during the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 19, 2023 in Mason, Ohio. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by MATTHEW STOCKMAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)55

Conversations about approaching the Grand Slams started several months ago and were spearheaded by members of the WTA Player Council, according to world No 3 Pegula.

The letter sent to the majors coincided with the antitrust lawsuit filed by the PTPA, a player association co-founded by Djokovic, against the ATP and WTA tours but Pegula insists the two initiatives are completely unrelated.

“It’s totally unrelated. 100 per cent unrelated,” Pegula said in Madrid. “It’s something that we were working on seven, eight months ago. So it’s just been in the works. I don’t want to say, like, too much because it hasn’t really gone anywhere yet. It’s just started. It’s new.

“But I’ll definitely say it’s not related to what the PTPA are doing. It was honestly just a coincidence of the timing.”

Reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys was part of the early conversations sparked by the WTA Player Council. The American world No 7 believes having a seat, and a voice, at the table is will be crucial moving forward.

“We really wanted to have a more open communication with the slams and just at least know what was going on. And so that was really a big thing that we kind of started and pushed,” said Keys in the Spanish capital.

“And I feel like it’s just been years and years of finally getting it here. And I would imagine that the council at this point felt like it was a good time to bring the men in as well and have a unified voice.

“But yeah, it’s just we want some more open communication and just the ability to kind of be in the room when decisions are being made.”

While full details of what happened in the meeting are yet to be revealed, The National understands that a formal letter will be sent by the players requesting the Grand Slams commit to a timeline to start addressing their demands.

Iga Swiatek ‘always dangerous’ on ‘her favourite court on the planet’ at Roland-Garros as Pole targets fifth French Open title – Amelie Mauresmo

Iga Swiatek will have plenty of questions to answer when she begins her Roland-Garros defence later this month. The 23-year-old has not been her usual impregnable self in recent weeks, but could change that narrative completely with a fifth French Open title in Paris. Much stranger things have happened according to tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, who is not betting against Swiatek this year.

Amelie Mauresmo believes it would be foolish to write off Iga Swiatek ahead of Roland-Garros, despite the Pole’s indifferent form heading into the second Grand Slam of the year.
Swiatek won the French Open for a fourth time last year but has not claimed a title since.
She has also slipped to No. 5 in the world rankings following Jasmine Paolini’s win at the Italian Open.
In a bid to get ahead, Swiatek has already travelled to Paris to begin training before the clay-court major begins on May 25, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
“She came very early this year, and she hasn’t had many wins on the clay this year,” Mauresmo told Eurosport France.
“I’m thinking she wants to really take the atmosphere of this centre court, the court she loves, maybe her favourite court on the planet.
“It’s nice to see her come so early. I think it’s one of the first times that we have this kind of player, a high-profile player, coming so early in the tournament.
“Usually, it happens at the beginning of next week, like Monday of the opening week, Monday, Tuesday, Monday, most of the time.
“But I guess she needs to practise on-site, and that’s what she feels she needs. We’re happy to have her here.”
It has been a sobering start to 2025 for former world No. 1 Swiatek following a 6-1 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Coco Gauff in Madrid, either side of defeats to Jelena Ostapenko and Danielle Collins in Stuttgart and Rome respectively.
Iga Swiatek 
Nevertheless, Mauresmo believes that victories in the opening rounds at the French Open can build up some much-needed winning momentum.
“I think that she can still have a chance,” Mauresmo said. “I think the beginning of the tournament will be key, definitely, to have this confidence going again. You need these first few matches, one, two, three, to get the rhythm going, get the confidence a little bit higher, getting it up a little bit.
“But Iga on this court is always dangerous. She’s always going to be a problem to any player she’s going to face. Now, the fact that she’s coming here with confidence being pretty low is probably something new for her. It’s also going to be interesting to see how she reacts to this mentally.”
  • ‘Hurt’ Swiatek in ‘vicious circle’ that could come to head at French Open – Henin
  • ‘A bit of fun’ – Kyrgios set for French Open return after eight years
  • ‘I’m not surprised’ – Murray and Djokovic split was expected, says Henin
Mauresmo assessed the main challengers to Swiatek, and highlighted the potential threats coming from Aryna Sabalenka, Gauff and Madison Keys.
“Aryna has been unbelievable all season, basically,” she added.
“Coco is starting to put it together, and Madison won in Australia [2025 Australian Open]. I’m still very interested to see if Iga can perform, and how she can turn the tables.
“It’s a very open women’s draw, and it’s a little bit more open this year.”

Iga Swiatek has dropped to WTA World No. 5 ahead of Roland Garros 2025.

The WTA Rankings have been updated following the Italian Open, and there were major shakeups at the top of the list. No player was more negatively affected than Iga Swiatek.

In the updated rankings released on May 19, Swiatek dropped three spots to World No. 5. The Polish superstar has hemorrhaged valuable rankings points as she has failed to defend her titles throughout clay court season.

Even worse, there will not be a chance for Swiatek to improve her standing before Roland Garros. Swiatek, the winner of the last three French Opens, must defend her title as the fifth seed.

The main draw has not yet been announced, but Swiatek is guaranteed to face a much more challenging path to the final.

After losing to Danielle Collins in the third round of the Italian Open, Swiatek shut down any speculation about Roland Garros.

She has since spent her long break practicing in Paris a full two weeks early. The official Roland Garros social media team has shared sneak peeks at Swiatek’s training at Philippe Chatrier.

Swiatek has not won a title, much less reached a finals match, since she won Roland Garros 2024 last June. Since then, the five-time Grand Slam champion has trudged through the roughest stretch of her career.

Over the past year, Swiatek has dealt with the doping scandal, subsequent ban, and a coaching change that has yet to pay off.

Four of Swiatek’s five Grand Slam titles have come on the clay courts at Roland Garros, so she should always be considered a contender to win the tournament. However, her dark horse status for 2025 was unfathomable this time last year.

Roland Garros runs from May 25 – June 8. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated’s Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.

Justine Henin believes Iga Swiatek has been in a “vicious circle of hurt” since last year’s French Open, and it could come to a head on her return to Paris.
Swiatek has had a difficult start to 2024, with even a switch to her favourite surface of clay yet to bring out her very best.
Indeed, in Madrid she was thrashed 6-1 6-1 by Coco Gauff, and in Stuttgart and Rome she lost to two opponents who have caused her problems in the past, Jelena Ostapenko and Danielle Collins.
Swiatek will now head to the French Open having not won a title since her victory at the Grand Slam a year ago.
Former world No. 1 Henin thinks Swiatek’s recent struggles on clay are causing her “hurt”.
“It wasn’t a problem until now. Now we are on the clay that she loves so much, approaching the tournament that she has won four times, if there was a time to find herself, it was now,” Henin told Eurosport France.
“Now, it will take on another level. Against Collins [in Rome], she went through a very complex emotional state. She arrived at the press conference with red eyes. You can feel that it hurts, deep down.”
  • Kyrgios set for French Open return
  • Henin ‘not surprised’ by Djokovic, Murray split
Henin thinks Swiatek’s recent struggles can even be traced back to last year’s French Open, most notably when she rebuked the crowd for making noises during points after her battling win over Naomi Osaka in the second round.
“In her speech to the crowd after her victory against Osaka, we already felt that she was not particularly well, she was off the subject, on edge,” said Henin.
“I think it had been very hard to go and get this title. She’s been going through complex things for a while. I think one of the bases is her very perfectionist side. She wants to do things in a certain way.
“The status she has had, the domination she has had, especially on clay. We felt at certain moments in her young career how much pressure it was sometimes difficult to bear.”
Swiatek has been the dominant force on clay since 2022, winning three straight French Open titles to add to the one she won as a 19-year-old in 2020.
But last year was not plain sailing as she split with long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and was also given a one-month suspension after a positive test for a banned substance.
This will be the first time she hasn’t won a clay title in the lead-up to the French Open since 2020.
Swiatek could also enter the Grand Slam as world No. 4, which would be her lowest ranking since early 2022.
“The fact of feeling that her game on other surfaces was not evolving as quickly as she thought or wanted weighed [on her],” added Henin.
Iga Swiatek
“Her victory at the US Open [in 2022] was not enough to free her. Something was gradually setting in. There is competition that is progressing.
“All of this puts pressure on her. She’s in a vicious circle. It’s not surprising to see her struggling.
“But perhaps this is the moment when it needs to explode, so that things come out, so that she can analyse, understand what is happening to the great perfectionist that she is.
“We say to ourselves that it’s perhaps there, at Roland-Garros, that she’ll finally sink before, perhaps, starting again.”

Gauff: Expect best from Swiatek in Paris

Swiatek’s recent form has cast doubts over whether she will make it four in a row at the French Open.
Gauff will be one of the leading contenders looking to dethrone Swiatek in Paris and should be buoyed by her crushing win against the Pole in Madrid.
However, Gauff is not writing off Swiatek given her impressive history at the Grand Slam.
“I think for sure it changes some things when you maybe see someone who won Roland-Garros that many times not having the best results,” said Gauff in Rome.
“I think it definitely gives players a lot of confidence when they come to face her.
“You also have to respect that she’s a four-time champion at Roland-Garros. I always think if someone wins a tournament that many times, regardless of what shape they’re in, they can definitely figure out a way to win again.
“If I were to play her at French Open, I would throw away the results in Madrid, not even think about it, expect her to play her best tennis.”

Iga Swiatek surprised tennis fans by practicing at Roland Garros two weeks before the French Open.

Roland Garros shared a sneak peek at Iga Swiatek’s surprisingly early practice session before the French Open.

Iga Swiatek is battling through the worst slump of her professional career. The Queen of Clay no longer looks unstopped on her favorite surface and has not won a title since last year’s French Open.

Danielle Collins upset Swiatek in the third round of the Italian Open (Internazionali BNL d’Italia), giving Swiatek an extra long break before Roland Garros. It perhaps is not the best thing for a player struggling to find her form.

While some fans and media members speculated that Swiatek could add a tournament in the meantime, it is now apparent that she plans to spend her time in Paris gearing up for the second Grand Slam of the season.

On Thursday morning, the official Roland Garros social media channels shared a quick 27-second video of Swiatek training with her team inside an empty Philippe Chatrier. Swiatek arrived a full two weeks ahead of her first match at Roland Garros.

Four of Swiatek’s five Grand Slam titles have come at Roland Garros, including last year’s dominant victory over Jasmine Paolini. She is comfortable in the stadium and looks to regain her form before defending her title.

Iga Swiatek 

However, Swiatek has not won a tournament at any level since last year’s French Open. Even worse, she has not even made the finals of an event since last June.

There are plenty of reasons that can be attributed to Swiatek’s title drought. She has cited anxiety and a loss of confidence after dealing with her doping scandal, a coaching change, and family issues off the court.

Swiatek is currently the WTA World No. 2 with a record of 27-9 with zero titles. However, she will slide in the WTA Rankings after the conclusion of the Italian Open. She could be a fourth seed in the 2025 French Open.

The 2025 French Open runs from May 25 – June 8. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated’s Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.

Tennis legend Chris Evert has voiced her concerns over Iga Swiatek’s form as she named her four favourites to win the women’s singles title at the 2025 French Open.

Swiatek has been the dominant WTA player on clay this decade, having claimed the Roland Garros crown in four of the last five years and at each of the previous three editions.

However, Swiatek has not reached a final at any tournament since her victory at the 2024 French Open.

The world No 2 was badly out of sorts in a shock 6-1, 7-5 defeat to Danielle Collins in the third round of the Italian Open — where she was the reigning champion.

Swiatek’s latest alarming defeat came after she was dismantled 6-1, 6-1 by Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.

The Polish star’s clay campaign began at the WTA 500 in Stuttgart, where she was upset by Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals — her sixth loss in as many meetings with the Latvian.

Evert, who won a record seven French Open women’s titles, revealed she cannot choose between the leading contenders for the Paris Grand Slam.

“I don’t know how you can pick anybody between [Aryna] Sabalenka, Iga and Coco, and with Madison Keys really to me would be my fourth pick,” the 18-time major winner told Forbes.

Iga Swiatek News

Iga Swiatek

 

Iga Swiatek makes concerning admissions as she bluntly reacts to Italian Open shock

Iga Swiatek set for shocking rankings collapse after latest nightmare defeat

“I just don’t know how Iga is going to react. That, to me, is the unknown.

“We know what she is capable of, and with her past records, she’s brilliant at the French Open, but I just don’t know if she can find her A game, because she’s going to need it. It’s kind of like we’re seeing her C game right now.”

Evert has previously revealed she expects Swiatek to break her Roland Garros title record.

“I’m worried about it every day. When I put my head under the pillow I’m worried about Iga,” the American said.

“I think Iga will end up on double digits. I don’t just think she will beat my record here. I think it’s double digits.”

The only active WTA players to win the Roland Garros title are Swiatek, Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova.

Gauff was a French Open runner-up in 2022, Aryna Sabalenka’s best result is reaching the semi-finals in 2023.

Australian Open champion Madison Keys was a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2018.

Iga Swiatek avenged a heartbreaking Australian Open defeat in dramatic fashion at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday, the defending champion rallying from a first-set bagel to defeat Madison Keys, 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“It was one of the weirdest matches I’ve ever played,” Swiatek said on court after the match. “Madi was just playing perfectly at the beginning and I wasn’t really proactive with anything. But I didn’t feel like it was that bad; I felt the ball well. It just went super long most of the time. I just tried to play a bit shorter, put it in. I think I let Madi do a little bit more mistakes by putting the ball back.”

The No. 2 seed has gone the distance in three of her four matches this week but saved her biggest comeback for the fifth-seeded Keys, edging into the semifinals after one hour and 46 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

“The momentum changed but I’m not sure why!” said Swiatek. “I just stayed in there and obviously it wasn’t easy to lose the first set 6-0, but I just tried and at the end I’m happy I did.”

Keys’ Australian Open run saw her beat both Swiatek and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who was aiming to win a third straight title Down Under, but the American suffered a dip in form following a semifinal loss at the BNP Paribas Open. Winning just one match at each of her next two appearances in Miami and Charleston, Keys was looking for a reset ahead of the second major tournament of the seasons, and appeared to have found it at the Caja Magica.

Rolling into the last eight without dropping a set, she found herself across the net from Swiatek, who has enjoyed a solid, if unspectacular season. The former world No. 1 has reached at least the quarterfinals in all of her 2025 tournament appearances but has not reached a final since last June, when she won her fourth Roland Garros title.

Looking to lock back into dominant form on her favorite surface, the 23-year-old Swiatek suffered a sixth straight defeat to Jelena Ostapenko at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and has been made to battle through multiple three-settes through her Madrid title defense. She rallied from a set and a break down against Alexandra Eala, who had shocked Swiatek last month in Miami, and needed a third set to solve Diana Shnaider in the fourth round.

That discomfort was magnified in the face of Keys’ heavy groundstrokes, allowing the American to roar through the opening set without losing a game.

Iga Swiatek 

“At least it’s fast!” Swiatek joked of the first-set bagel. “That’s the only positive thing, but for sure, staying on the court and having 0-6 is just weird.”

Though she continued to press Swiatek early in the second set, Swiatek quickly found her rhythm and took a 5-1 lead of her own before ultimately serving out the set two games later.

A tense deciding set unfolded as the pair traded service holds through the first four games. Keys saved two break points in the fifth but Swiatek outrallied the American to earn a third and a netted forehand from Keys gave Swiatek the first break. As Swiatek consolidated her lead Keys sought to amp up her aggression but struggled with consistency, striking two winners but four errors to put Swiatek a game from the finish line.

Keys kept things close as Swiatek served for the match, powering a forehand winner to save match point, but narrowly missed a backhand long. Swiatek, who played remarkably clean tennis in the final two sets, made no mistake on her second opportunity and edged over the finish line in just under two hours.

Having avenged her loss to Keys, Swiatek is guaranteed another opportunity for revenge as she awaits the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 4 seed Coco Gauff and No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva. Both women won their last two matches against the Pole, Gauff at the 2024 WTA Finals and 2025 United Cup and Andreeva at this year’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and BNP Paribas Open.

Paranoia has spread amongst tennis players after both Swiatek and Jannik Sinner failed drug tests without committing any intentional doping.

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 the 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.

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 the 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

Iga Swiatek

“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,” she added.

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 will 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,” she added.

Tunisian Ons Jabeur echoed Swiatek’s sentiments and said she is “traumatised” by the sound of her doorbell, 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.