Despite being exonerated in the doping case, Iga Swiatek continues to face unwarranted criticism. Previously, the Russian legend, Yevgeny Kafelnikov tweeted, “It should be LIFE ban for anybody who gets caught using ban substances! NO excuses and ZERO tolerance no matter who you are!!!!” Then, even players like Nick Kyrgios, Simona Halep, and a few others raised their voices against the ruling. Now, Nikolay Davydenko is a new addition to that list! The 43-year-old Russian former tennis player has gone a step ahead in this whole doping controversy!

For those who are unaware, Iga Swiatek failed an out-of-competition doping test in August this year. She tested positive for a banned substance called trimetazidine. Later on, Swiatek reportedly explained her innocence in the case, stating that the presence of the banned substance was a result of contamination from the medication, Melatonin. ITIA accepted the statement and handed her a one-month ban. Her month-long ban ended on Wednesday, December 4. The ITIA removed Iga Swiatek from their official website’s sanctions list on the subsequent day. Shortly after this, in an interview with matchtv.ru, Davydenko was heard saying,

“Tennis is tennis, you won’t become number one in the world with doping. It used to be easier to regulate doping, but now it’s worse.” Not only that, the former world number 3, further brought in Simona Halep in the discussion and added, “For me, Poland and Romania are two identical countries. Ask anyone in Russia, no one sees Poland [in Halep’s statements]. It’s nonsense. I don’t know what’s going on here. Maybe sponsors, maybe money. Is it possible that the President of the Republic of Poland[Andrzej Duda] decided this issue for Świątek? Anything is possible, corruption is everywhere.“

We all know Simona Halep was handed a four-year suspension in the aftermath of testing positive for Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open. However, later on, the ban was reduced to nine months after the CAS heard Halep’s appeal against the prolonged suspension. Halep finally made her comeback at the Miami Open in March in 2024. Time and again, she has been seen raising her voice against the different treatments of top ranked players and her case. 

Simona Halep yet again takes an indirect jibe at Iga Swiatek

As soon as the news about Iga Swiatek‘s doping controversy went out, we saw Simona Halep putting up a long heartfelt note on her IG account. She wrote, “I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment? I can’t find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from ITIA, the organization that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence.” Halep said it took two years from her career and revealed how tough it was for her to sleep during that phase in her life.

Clearly, she didn’t look too pleased with the rulings that saw Iga Swiatek face a one-month ban. Recently, she gave an interview with The Telegraph and during that interview, she yet again highlighted how some of the players (perhaps indicating Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek) were allowed to continue playing after much milder punishments for their doping violations. She spoke about how their cases were kept confidential and only revealed after their resolutions. She compared it with her own case and she felt it wasn’t handled in a similar manner.

The Romanian tennis star then explained how she had pleaded with the concerned authorities to let her continue playing, but to no avail. Although she didn’t name any particular player, still we could easily figure out who was she pointing out when she said, “The woman player – I don’t want to give name, you know who I’m talking about – she had the three-week suspension, but then she played two events, and then she again gets suspension. What is this? I mean, I don’t understand. So I feel it is not fair.” Share your thoughts on the opinions shared by Nikolay Davydenko and Simona Halep in Iga Swiatek’s doping controversy.