Swiatek opens up like never before about her doping case: “It was the worst moment of my life”

Months have passed since the Polish player quietly received the news of her positive test result, a case that was only made public a few weeks ago. Iga Swiatek takes advantage of the distance from the events to open up like never before during the Media Day of the 2025 Australian Open about how it initially impacted her, as well as confessing what the subsequent process was like, her greatest fears, and the uncertainty.

Her reaction upon receiving the positive result

“I was the most surprised,” Iga said in a press conference about that positive doping test result. “I knew I was going to have a break or something like that because I had no idea what would happen. I didn’t know if my suspension would be so soon or not. The first three weeks were quite chaotic. There was no way to have answers to the questions. We focused on finding the source. It wasn’t easy. It was probably the worst moment of my life. The fact that I had no control over this situation and no possibility of avoiding it made it even worse because I am a bit of a control freak.

Having the feeling that everything I built could disappear so quickly because of something beyond my control was crazy for me and really abstract. I’m glad that it’s over and I can play tennis and be here. This whole process has been quite abstract for me. Especially when I know I haven’t done anything wrong and had no idea that some medications could be contaminated. I’m always careful, so… I had no idea this could happen to me.”

Did she want it to be made public?

“Honestly, for the first two or three weeks, I focused on myself because I wasn’t in a good place. It was hard for me to be on the court. I focused on myself and didn’t engage in social media or read anything because my priority was myself and my well-being. Later on, it was quite uncomfortable. In the first tournament, we opted to say ‘personal reasons’ because we genuinely believed that the suspension would be lifted soon. From the start, 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.

Aside from the fact that I couldn’t play, the worst thing for me was what people would say. I always worked hard to be a good example, to show my integrity, to exhibit good behavior. Having no control over this case scared me a little, but the girls in the locker room are great. I already saw in the exhibition in Abu Dhabi that they support me a lot. Most of them even approached me, saying, ‘Hey, how can we avoid this? Is there a way to be more careful?’ They are concerned that it could happen to them too. There are many important players, I won’t mention names, who truly support me. I appreciate it a lot because it made me feel better when I came back and didn’t know how it would be.”