What’s it like to be the best in the world yet constantly under fire? Jannik Sinner might answer this! He’s made history with back-to-back Australian Open titles, but he’s still caught in a storm: hit with a three-month ban over a doping case where the contamination was apparently unintentional. While the Italian has been constantly receiving flak from all quarters, the WTA No. 2 Iga Swiatek has now stepped in as well. The Pole broke her silence in Dubai and put forward her thoughts, drawing from her own brush with a similar controversy. What did she say?

The incident began at the 2024 Indian Wells tournament, where Sinner failed two doping tests, testing positive for the anabolic steroid Clostebol. However, an independent inquiry by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ruled that he bore no fault or negligence allowing him to escape a ban after successfully appealing his case of accidental contamination. But the drama didn’t stop there! The “World Anti-Doping Agency” (WADA) challenged the decision, taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with a hearing scheduled for April 16-17 this year. Yet, surprisingly way before the hearing, the two parties opted for an out-of-court settlement, on February 15.

Under the agreement, the three-time Grand Slam winner received a suspension from February 9 to May 4, with WADA acknowledging that he had not intentionally cheated. This means he’ll be eligible to compete just in time for the Italian Open in Rome. And, now, just ahead of the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships, the second seed Iga Swiatek has broken her silence, offering her perspective.

Just before the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai, Iga had a Pre-Tournament Press Conference where she stated, “Well, honestly there’s no point to, like, overthink it. I didn’t think much. Every case is different. Every story is different, for sure. Because of Jannik’s or my situation, we are like kind of even celebrities (smiling), besides playing tennis. Everybody thinks of it from a hundred different perspectives. But I just try to stick to the facts and read the documents. I trust that the process at the end went fair”

Iga continued, “That’s the only thing I do because I try not to judge. I know that for Jannik, like, I don’t know because I haven’t talked to him, but I assume that it must have been a tough time, tough process. I’ve been through, like, something similar. But yeah, so I guess I don’t wish for any player for these kinds of things to happen. I hope he’s going to be over it soon and he will just get back to tennis.” But what was Iga’s case?

In August, the Polish No. 1 failed an ‘out-of-competition’ drug test, triggering immediate scrutiny. Nevertheless, the ITIA found her explanation justifiable, attributing it to unintentional contamination from over-the-counter med melatonin, which is used to mitigate jet lag.

Following Iga’s failed dope test, the ITIA swiftly issued a pre-charge notice for an anti-doping rule violation. The five-time GS winner appealed against the provisional suspension on September 22 and an independent WADA-accredited lab in Utah later confirmed her claims about the contamination. The result? The independent tribunal chair lifted her provisional suspension on October 4 and she ultimately accepted a one-month sanction, completing her period of ineligibility by December 4, allowing Iga to compete in both the WTA Finals and the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Upon her return though, Swiatek’s form has been shaky. She recently faced a stunning upset: crashing out of the Dubai Open after being defeated by a 17-year-old Russian prodigy.

“I’m not happy with the results” — Swiatek after her defeat against Mirra Andreeva

Just when it seemed like Swiatek was on track to claim her first individual title of the year, disaster struck! After a disappointing SF exit at the Qatar Open, a tournament Iga had dominated with three consecutive titles from 2022 to 2024, the World No. 2 suffered another shock defeat yesterday.

Mirra Andreeva, aged 17, secured a decisive 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Pole in the Dubai Championships quarterfinals. And, Swiatek later admitted that her deep run at the AO left her with limited time to prepare for the demanding “Middle Eastern” tournaments. 

“I had the same kind of mindset as like every year. … But the preparation for sure was different. Before, I lost in Australia early, so I had time to do some stuff. This year I didn’t,” she remarked.

Continuing further, she added, “Honestly, I’m not that direct usually, but I would blame this performance on the lack of practice before because I didn’t have time. I’m not happy with the results. I feel like I underperformed. I need to talk with my team a bit and plan the next weeks a bit differently because I haven’t had much time to practice before these tournaments.”

After the shocking defeat against the Russian teenager Andreeva, do you think Swiatek will bounce back at the Indian Wells?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!