Andy Roddick has come to Iga Swiatek’s protection because the American tennis legend says he wouldn’t even name it “a doping case” since he thinks it was nothing else however an unlucky scenario.
Final Thursday, it got here to mild that certainly one of samples the Pole offered in August got here again as constructive for trimetazidine (TMZ). After doing every thing she may to find out from the place it got here, the world No. 2 got here to the conclusion that non-prescribed melatonin capsules – which she was utilizing to deal with “sleep and jet lag issues” – have been contaminated with a banned substance.
The ITIA accepted the reason and Swiatek’s provisional suspension was ended after 22 days. On November twenty seventh, she accepted a one-month ban, with 22 days already served. However identical to within the Jannik Sinner case, some did not consider the reason and began throwing out conspiracy theories and double normal claims.
After studying about among the reactions on social media, Roddick defined on his podcast why he feels there may be zero purpose guilty Swiatek of something.
“I can’t name it doping. It’s like taking a melatonin for jet lag at 2:30 within the morning in Cincy… Take into consideration what number of issues needed to go fallacious for Iga Swiatek to get popped for melatonin and one thing that was contaminated. It is simply unlucky for her clearly. A adverse check in Paris on the Olympics, adverse checks in New York. So this is not some ongoing factor,” the 2003 US Open champion said on the Served with Andy Roddick.
“It simply sucks. It simply sucks ‘trigger the headlines individuals will say, the dumbest individuals in our sports activities, ‘Ah, doping!’ I’ve taken melatonin earlier than. Who’s to say ours weren’t contaminated and are we going to proceed to clutch pearls about one billionth of a gram of one thing or contaminated melatonin that didn’t have any efficiency enhancement.”
The ITIA made one thing perfectly clear in their Swiatek announcement
After being in Europe for months and competing at the Paris Olympics, the five-time Grand Slam champion claimed to have issues with sleeping and jet lag after arriving in the United States. And that’s why she turned to melatonin pills to help her tackle that.
And after taking a look at the evidence provided by Swiatek, the ITIA accepted that her intention wasn’t to dope and also determined that she was “on the lowest vary” of the No Significant Fault or Negligence.
“The ITIA accepted that the constructive check was attributable to the contamination of a regulated non-prescription medicine (melatonin), manufactured and bought in Poland that the participant had been taking for jet lag and sleep points, and that the violation was subsequently not intentional. This adopted interviews with the participant and their entourage, investigations, and evaluation from two WADA-accredited laboratories,” the ITIA said.
“In relation to the participant’s stage of fault, because the contaminated product was a regulated non-prescription medicine within the participant’s nation of origin and buy and contemplating all of the circumstances of its use (and different contaminated product circumstances beneath the World Anti-Doping Code), the participant’s stage of fault was thought-about to be on the lowest finish of the vary for ‘No Significant Fault or Negligence.'”
Iga Swiatek© WTA Finals Riyadh/Instagram – Fair Use
What Swiatek claimed after her positive doping test?
According to the 23-year-old, she didn’t even know what was TMZ. And with that being said, there was no way her intention was to ingest that into her system.
“On September 12, I learned that my anti-doping test sample, collected on August 12 before the Cincinnati tournament, was positive. It was a blow for me, I was shocked and this whole situation made me very anxious. At first I couldn’t perceive how that was even potential and the place it had come from. It seems testing revealed traditionally lowest ranges of trimetazidine, a substance I’ve by no means heard about earlier than. I don’t assume I even knew it existed. I’ve by no means encountered it, nor did individuals round me,” Swiatek said in a video message uploaded on her Instagram.
When explaining to her fans what happened, the four-time French Open winner described it as “the hardest battle of her life.” Additionally, she claimed that she was left very burdened and anxious, with the uncertainty of what was going to occur together with her profession being the worst half.
Finally, every thing labored out effectively for Swiatek, who will likely be beginning her 2025 season by representing Poland on the United Cup earlier than enjoying on the Australian Open.
In the meantime, the Pole has one thing on her schedule even earlier than the United Cup as she is slated to play on the World Tennis League, an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi which can run by way of December 19-22.
