Iga Swiatek can’t catch a break at the moment. Ever since the former World No.1 revealed last month, she tested positive for a banned substance Trimetazidine (TMZ), Swiatek has been facing a lot of backlash. She tried to explain that the failed test was due to a contamination in her medication (Melatonin). But not all people will believe her until she proves her innocence. In doing so, the doping controversy has cost her a lot so far!

In a new media interaction with TV24’s Anita Werner, Iga decided to present a clear transparency with the utmost honesty in the ongoing case. When asked about how she felt when she was informed of a positive test by her team, the Pole said, “My reaction was very violent. It was a mixture of incomprehension and panic. There was a lot of crying. We get a notification by email and by text message when there is a problem or when we need to complete something in the documents. I opened the email and thought it was a notification that players automatically get when they have to do something. But this time it turned out that the email was much more serious,” she told as reported by Tennis365.

However, Iga Swiatek’s team didn’t let her spirits go down. Thanks to her position as a top player, she was able to hire the best lawyers in order to defend herself. “I spent about $70,000 on a lawyer, €15,000($15855.75) on expert opinions and tests,” she said, although she stated that she didn’t remember the exact figure she spent.

“On top of that, there was also the loss of the financial prize for Cincinnati, but – to be honest – it didn’t matter to me. The most important thing was to prove my innocence,” she added. For the unversed, she lost the prize money earned at the Cincinnati Open, which was $158,944 for reaching the semi-finals.

Giving the explanation for revealing the amount of money spent in the case, Iga Swiatek said, “I give these amounts in order to make people realise the problems faced by athletes who don’t make as much money as I do on the court and play sports in which salaries are much lower.” Meanwhile, Iga has also come forward in giving strong reactions to her critics. Especially the former Russian pro Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Iga Swiatek opens up on Kafelnikov’s lifelong ban claims

For the unversed, Russia’s ex-ATP pro Yevgeny had given a harsh reaction after it was revealed that Iga was tested positive. “Sometimes I wonder… why the hell I was not using steroids throughout my career so I could play instead of 170 matches a year, maybe 300? This is really [a] shame what’s happening to tennis now,” he wrote, on November 29, while presenting his initial stance.

Not long after sharing his first reaction, Kafelnikov dropped another harsh take on Iga. “It should be LIFE ban for anybody who gets caught using ban substances! NO excuses and ZERO tolerance no matter who your are!!!!”, he wrote.

In the same, aforementioned interview, Iga responded with a smile. “Honestly, it’s the first time I’ve heard it,” she said. “Since when has he not played tennis? I think a lot has changed since he was on the court. Detection and probability have increased. I think he hasn’t read our documentation and doesn’t understand what it is. I’ll just ignore it,” she added.

It appears she’s not ready to accept the blames on herself. It will be intriguing to see how the current situation will shape up going forward. What are your thoughts on this case? Let us know in the comments below.