“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?

Defending BNP Paribas Open champion Iga Swiatek returned to a court that has been quite friendly to her over the last few seasons.

That court is Stadium 1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where the Polish star has lifted not just one but two Tennis Paradise crowns in the last three years.

The 2022 and 2024 champion was back in action Friday afternoon in Indian Wells as she tunes up to try to become the first three-time women’s champion in BNP Paribas Open history.

Check out these photos from Swiatek’s first practice session in her return to the desert.

“I know how tennis works,” Iga Swiatek said earlier this week. “It doesn’t always depend on you if you win titles or not.”

“You just have to put hundred percent effort and commitment and you’ll get your chances.”

The second seed proved herself right in her 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-4 win over Linda Noskova on Wednesday. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that Swiatek and Noskova combined to prove her right.

Noskova, a 20-year-old Czech ranked 33rd, may be best known for how well she matches up with Swiatek. She beat her at the Australian Open last January, and lost two close three-setters to her later in the year. Noskova has an excellent serve, which partially negates one of Swiatek’s primary weapons, her return. And she’s one of the few players who can stand toe-to-toe with Iga from the baseline and beat her with pace.

All of that was in evidence again on Wednesday. Noskova fired 16 aces. She held her own in rallies, exasperated Swiatek with her surprise ground stroke bombs from behind the baseline, and forced Iga to speed up her long forehand swing and make errors. Noskova rolled through the first set tiebreaker 7-1, held serve to start the second set, and went up 0-30 on Swiatek’s serve in the next game.

But just when Swiatek’s ship appeared to be sinking, she plugged the holes in her game. She came back to hold for 1-1, and eventually prevailed in a see-saw second set that was filled with break points and mini-shifts in momentum.

That back and forth quality continued all the way through the third set as well. The match was reminiscent of Ekaterina Alexandrova’s win over top seed Aryna Sabalenka the previous day. Each time the higher-ranked player—Swiatek, Sabalenka—seemed to have asserted her authority and taken the lead for good, the lower-ranked player—Noskova, Alexandrova—proved again that she could match her weapons. Stroke for stroke, there wasn’t a whole lot that separated No. 1 and 2 from No. 25 and 33.

Until the end, that is. On Tuesday, Alexandrova never tightened up or faltered when the finish line appeared on the her mental horizon. On Wednesday, Noskova did. With Swiatek serving at 3-4 in the third set, Noskova went up 0-30. A Swiatek defeat seemed highly plausible, considering that Sabalenka and No. 3 seed Coco Gauff had already been sent packing this week.

Swiatek is the only Top 4 seed left in Doha after early exits from Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and Jasmine Paolini.

Except that, in this case, Noskova couldn’t make it happen. She could barely get a ball in play.

Noskova missed two returns to make it 30-30, and another return to give Swiatek the game. At 4-4, Noskova missed three forehands and was broken. On Iga’s second match point, she belted a forehand into the net.

For most of three sets, Noskova showed how little difference there is between a top player and a second-tier player. Then she spent the last three games showing what that difference is. She was the one who couldn’t modulate her strokes and play with a little more margin when she was nervous. Swiatek could.

“Every match with Linda is always super-tough,” said Swiatek, who won her 14th straight match in Doha dating back to 2021. “Wasn’t easy with her serve, which was kind of perfect.”

Yesterday I wondered whether Sabalenka’s loss might signal a shift at the top of the WTA in Swiatek’s direction. Since 2022, Iga has used Doha as a launching point for a run of dominance that lasts through Roland Garros.

Today she almost failed to launch. But by now, as she said, Swiatek knows how tennis works. Winning doesn’t always depend on what you do; it can also mean hanging around and giving it your best until your opponent loses.

The good news for Iga Swiatek is that, after two straight early exits in Melbourne, she returned to the Australian Open semis for the first time since 2022. This year, in her first five matches, Swiatek was exceptionally dominant, dropping just 14 games in ten sets. As Emma Navarro said after losing 6-1, 6-2 to Swiatek in an 89-minute quarterfinal, “I think something she does really well is she’s really quick, and she does everything with 100 percent conviction and intensity.”

Said Swiatek that day, “These tournaments are long. Even if you start amazing, like, something can happen during the two weeks. I wouldn’t say something feels super different. Probably, yeah, I feel like I’m relaxed and just focused on the right things.” Amid last year’s frustrating losses at Wimbledon and the US Open, as well as her recent drug suspension, it was refreshing to see Swiatek playing with renewed focus and precision.