Iga Swiatek Hardened By Going 'Through The Worst' After Doping Ban

Paranoia has spread amongst tennis players after both Iga 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 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.