World No.2 and five-times grand slam champion Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing optimistic for banned substance trimetazidine within the newest doping controversy involving a star tennis participant.
Swiatek examined optimistic in an out-of-competition pattern in August however the Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company accepted it was attributable to contamination of her remedy melatonin, which was manufactured and bought in Poland.
Swiatek had been taking it for jet lag and sleep points and as there was no important fault or negligence, the ITIA provided the reigning French Open champion a one-month suspension, which the 23-year-old accepted.
“The participant was provisionally suspended from September 12 till October 4, lacking three tournaments, which counts in the direction of the sanction, leaving eight days remaining,” the ITIA mentioned in an announcement on Thursday.
“As well as, the participant additionally forfeits prize cash from the Cincinnati Open, the event immediately following the take a look at.”
Swiatek, who had pulled out of tournaments in Asia in September citing private issues and fatigue, described the ordeal of testing optimistic because the “worst expertise of my life”.
She was world No.1 when she failed the take a look at and having skipped the Asian swing, Aryna Sabalenka leapfrogged her on this planet rankings to finally finish the yr as primary.
“Within the final 2.5 months I used to be topic to strict ITIA proceedings, which confirmed my innocence,” Swiatek mentioned on Instagram.
“The one optimistic doping take a look at in my profession, displaying unbelievably low stage of a banned substance I’ve by no means heard about earlier than, put all the pieces I’ve labored so exhausting for my total life into query.
“Each me and my staff needed to cope with great stress and nervousness. Now all the pieces has been fastidiously defined, and with a clear slate I can return to what I really like most.”
Swiatek will not be the primary world No.1 to fail a doping take a look at this yr after Italy’s Jannik Sinner, the lads’s top-ranked participant, additionally examined optimistic for anabolic agent clostebol.
Nevertheless, Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing by an unbiased tribunal forward of the US Open, which he went on to win.
Swiatek performed in Cincinnati, the place she was the highest seed and reached the semi-finals. The WTA mentioned she gained almost $US159,000 ($A245,000) in prize cash on the event gained by Sabalenka.
Swiatek then took half within the US Open the place she was knocked out within the quarter-finals earlier than the WTA Finals in Riyadh, wherein she did not advance from the group stage.
She additionally represented Poland on the Billie Jean King Cup the place they misplaced within the semi-finals to eventual champions Italy.
The ladies’s tour (WTA) mentioned they acknowledged the ITIA’s determination and that they “totally assist” Swiatek.
“Iga has constantly demonstrated a robust dedication to truthful play and upholding the rules of unpolluted sport, and this unlucky incident highlights the challenges athletes face in navigating using medicines and dietary supplements,” the WTA mentioned.
Russian determine skater Kamila Valieva additionally examined optimistic for TMZ, with the consequence revealed in the course of the 2022 Winter Olympics. She was disqualified from the staff competitors on the Beijing Video games and was handed a four-year doping ban.
© AAP
