Iga Swiatek said she felt awkward about not being able to be honest
regarding her absence from the tour.
The world No 2 failed a doping test in August and served a one-month ban after it was accepted medication she was taking to combat jet lag was contaminated.
That news was not announced until November, when it emerged she had missed three tournaments in the autumn while serving a provisional ban, which she attributed at the time to personal reasons, fatigue and a change of coach.
Following so soon after the announcement in August that men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner had failed two tests in March that were not made public at the time, it was another major blow to the sport’s reputation.
Speaking ahead of the Australian Open, Swiatek said: “The first three weeks, I would say, were pretty chaotic. There was no way to have any answers to the questions. We just focused on finding the source.
“But I’ve got to say, for sure it wasn’t easy. It was probably the worst time in my life. And the fact that I had no control over this whole situation and I had no chance to avoid it, it made it even worse because I’m a control freak a little bit.
“Just having the feeling that everything that I kind of built can be taken away so quickly because of something you have no control over, it was pretty crazy for me and really abstract.
“For the first two or three weeks, I just was focused on myself because I wasn’t in a good place. I had trouble just being on court. I thought that tennis did this to me a little bit. I didn’t really read stuff because the priority was me and my well-being.
“After, it got pretty awkward. We chose for the first tournament to say personal reasons because we honestly thought the suspension is going to be lifted soon.
“From the beginning it was obvious that something was contaminated because the level of this substance in my urine was so low that it had to be contamination.
“Since we didn’t know what’s going to happen because we had no control over ITIA’s [International Tennis Integrity Agency] decision, we also couldn’t make any logical plan. We started with personal issues because I needed also time to figure everything out.”
Swiatek returned to play at the WTA Finals and Billie Jean King Cup Finals after her provisional suspension was lifted but before the news came out.
She admitted she was fearful of what the reaction would be but thanked rivals for their support.
“Besides the fact I couldn’t play, this was the worst thing for me, like what people would say,” she said. “Because I always worked hard to be a good example, to show my integrity, show good behaviour.
“Again, having no control over this case really freaked me out a bit. But in the locker room, the girls are great. I already saw at this exhibition in Abu Dhabi [in December] that they are really supportive.
“Most of them even approached me. They’re like: ‘Hey, how can we avoid this? Is there any way that we can be more careful?’ They are worried this can happen to them as well.
“There are many top players – I’m not going to say names – that are really supportive. I really appreciate that, because it made me feel better when I came back and I didn’t know how it was going to be.”
Second seed Swiatek will take on Czech Katerina Siniakova in the opening round in Melbourne.
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
- ABN AMRO Open Rotterdam (ATP 500) – 3-9 February
- Dallas Open (ATP 500) – 3-9 February
- Delray Beach Open (ATP 250) – 10-16 February
- IEB+ Argentina Open (ATP 250) – 10-16 February
- Open 13 Provence (ATP 250) – 10-16 February
- Transylvania Open (WTA 250) – 3-9 February
- Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) – 3-8 February
- Qatar TotalEnergies Open (WTA 1000) – 9-15 February
- Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (WTA 1000) – 16-22 February
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