"Feeling that everything I built can be taken away so quickly": Iga Swiatek calls doping ordeal 'the worst time' in her life

Iga Swiatek called her doping saga the worst time in her life as she was asked to go back to September when she first found out about her positive test before the Australian Open which begins on Sunday 12 January.

Swiatek who plays Katerina Siniakova in the first round said that the worst feeling was having something ripped away from her that she has built for something she had no control over.

The former World No.1 bore no fault or negligence for the breach which saw her take a substance abbreviated to be called TMZ for jet lag and sleep deprivation. But has also seen her get mixed responses from the top figures in the game about the ordeal with Jannik Sinner also testing positive during 2024 and receiving criticism.

“We don't have two hours to talk (smiling)," she initially responded to which she was asked further about her thinking around that time when the news came out.

“I mean, I was as well, trust me. I was the one that was the most surprised. But no, I mean, honestly from the beginning, like, it wasn't like I knew I'm going to have a break or something because I had no idea what going to happen. I didn't know if my suspension is going to be that soon or not. Like first three weeks, I would say, were pretty chaotic.

"There was no way to have any answers to the questions. We just focused on finding the source. But I got to say, yeah, for sure it wasn't easy. It was probably like the worst time in my life. And the fact that I had no control over this whole situation and I had no chance to avoid it, yeah, it made it even worse because I'm a control freak a little bit (smiling).

"Just having the feeling that everything that I kind of built can be taken away so quickly because of something you have no control over, it was pretty crazy for me and really abstract. So it wasn't easy, for sure. But as I said, like, I don't know, I have like hundred stories to tell you. I don't know which one to choose. I'm happy that I'm kind of done with it and I can play tennis and be here. For sure this whole process was pretty abstract for me. Especially when I know that I didn't do anything and I had no idea to know that some medicine can be contaminated. I'm always careful, so... I had no idea that this can even happen to me.”