Iga Swiatek believes this doping controversy has put everything that she has worked so hard in her entire life “into question.” She tested positive for a banned substance (TMZ) in August this year. After that, she incurred a provisional suspension on September 12, which Swiatek successfully appealed on September 12. However, on October 4, the provisional suspension was lifted and her ineligibility will end today. Her level of fault was considered to be at the lowest end of the range for “no significant fault or negligence.” However, things could’ve ended much worse than this. Recently, a renowned tennis journalist was spotted highlighting all the worst-case scenario in this case.

According to Polish insider, Tomasz Wolfke, the punishment for Iga Swiatek was just “symbolic.” He said, “This penalty actually took away only two starts from her. Only or as much as, because she couldn’t defend her title, she lost some points, she lost a lot of money, she lost the leadership in the world ranking. But really, from the point of view of an average fan, this penalty is symbolic, let’s not kid ourselves. It may seem that it is tongue-in-cheek.”

Swiatek was fined the prize money of $158,944 which she earned for her SF run at the Cincinnati Masters in August! She even lost the top spot to Aryna Sabalenka due to her long absence on the Tour. Speaking on the punishment, Wolfke added, “However, it seems that she was not found innocent, but guilty, but the act had such a low harmfulness that she was given the lowest possible sentence because I remind you that you can get up to four years. This sentence is ‘strange.’ On the one hand, there had to be some, since she was found guilty, but on the other hand, she really could have suffered much more.” The tennis world has literally been divided into two halves on this controversial topic.

Canadian tennis star, Denis Shapovalov looked a bit surprised with just a one-month suspension for the world number 2. Then, Simona Halep also penned down a long note highlighting the difference in treatment. British tennis player, Tara Moore questioned, “HOW WAS SHE ALLOWED TO PLAY WHILST BEING SUSPENDED?” Even former tennis players, like Yevgeny Kafelnikov, called for players who failed drug tests to be banned for a lifetime.

Amid all these criticisms, we saw players like Naomi Osaka and Magdalena Frech showcasing their support towards Iga Swiatek. Even, Lindsey Vonn, the American ski racer wrote, “We know your character, and your fans know it too. We have your back!” Who were the other ones who stood beside Swiatek in her tough time?

“Iga Swiatek is not guilty of anything” – claims the toxicology insider, Jean-Claude Alvarez

Iga Swiatek has been experiencing quite a lot of trouble in the last few days. After having been suspended for testing positive for a banned substance (Trimetazidine), she has been receiving a lot of hate from around the world. However, amid all this hatred, a few of them have already extended their support to the former world number one. One among them was American tennis legend, Andy Roddick. He said, “I can’t call it doping. Taking melatonin when you’re jetlagged at 2:30 in Cincinnati… It was just unfortunate for her.“

Roddick further questioned, “Are we going to continue to catch athletes for trace amounts of the substance or contaminated melatonin that had no effect on increasing performance?” Even Swiatek’s father and Olympia, Tomasz Swiatek, recently broke his silence and slammed the critics and experts for making false assumptions about her daughter on the doping saga.

During an interview with SportoweFakty, he said, “People write various things, but I decided from the beginning that I wouldn’t fight windmills. If I wanted to correct false assumptions, I wouldn’t do anything else, and I don’t have time for that. People evaluate things differently, but they have this in common: when things are going well, almost everyone praises, and when there’s one stumble or defeat, criticism begins immediately.” He further added, that he wanted her daughter to be treated like a person with emotions, and not like a machine that was insensitive to everything.

We saw former world number 9, Andrea Petkovic lauding Iga Swiatek for the way she handled the case. However, the most interesting comment came from the professor of pharmacology and director of the toxicology laboratory in Garches, Jean-Claude Alvarez. He claimed. “Iga Swiatek is not guilty of anything! She was only taking melatonin to fall asleep because she was suffering from jet lag. She was trying to sleep better to improve her results. I don’t understand why she was punished with a month’s suspension, we shouldn’t punish her at all. At least in people’s eyes, she would still be innocent.“ Share your thoughts on the claims of Alvarez. Do you agree with him?