The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has decided not to appeal Iga Swiatek’s one-month suspension for a failed drug test, stating that her explanation is “plausible.” This announcement came on Monday, just after Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1, advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win over Eva Lys.
Swiatek expressed relief, saying, “I’m just satisfied that I can get closure, kind of, and I can just move on and finish this whole process because I just want to play tennis and focus on the tournament.”
In contrast to Swiatek’s case, WADA has appealed the exoneration of current men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, and a hearing will take place at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, in April. Sinner had not been suspended, as the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) concluded that he was not negligent in relation to two positive tests for an anabolic steroid in March.
The ITIA made the resolution of Iga Swiatek’s case public in late November. She had already been given a provisional suspension, which caused her to miss three tournaments in October. Swiatek completed her ban during the off-season of the sport.
WADA announced on Monday that it had consulted external legal counsel, who determined that Iga Swiatek’s explanation for contamination was well-supported. The counsel also concluded that the ITIA’s decision was in line with the World Anti-Doping Code, and there was no valid reason to appeal it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart medication known as TMZ. The tennis star failed an out-of-competition drug test in August, but the ITIA accepted her explanation that the result was unintentional. She claimed it was caused by contamination from a non-prescription melatonin supplement she had been using to address jet lag and sleep issues.