"I felt like I was losing my integrity" - Iga Swiatek gets candid on her reaction to failed doping test

Former World No.1 Iga Swiatek broke a year-long title drought when she won her maiden Wimbledon title a few weeks ago. However, the Polish star was the subject of a high-profile doping scandal that rocked the WTA circuit last year.

Last year the 24-year old tested positive for trimetazidine, a prohibited substance. After an investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, Swiatek was handed a one-month suspension in November 2024.

Although Swiatek would later explain that a batch of her non-prescription melatonin had been contaminated, the damage had been done. Several fans called for a stricter punishment, with many claiming she was receiving preferential treatment due to her top-rank and status.

In an episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, Swiatek finally opened up on her feelings during this difficult period. The six-time Grand Slam champion revealed she was at a photo shoot when the news hit, and was devastated for weeks after the announcement.

"Well, I was in a photoshoot with my sponsor in Warsaw. We were just kind of changing locations. I went on my email, and I saw that I got an email from this portal, you know? And I thought it was just a reminder to do my whereabouts or something," said Swiatek on Served.
"But yeah, it said that, well, I didn’t even read it because I started crying. And my agents, who were there for the shoot, they literally thought someone had died. So I gave my manager the phone, and she read everything.
"They were also pretty confused, because obviously no one knows what to do in a situation like that. I called Matej, my physio and conditioning coach, he already knew from my other agent. I called Daria, and we met during the shoot.
"I had no idea if I should even continue doing the shoot because my face was all red, I was crying for probably like 40 minutes. But on the other hand, I knew that I probably couldn’t really tell them about it. So I just continued for the next three hours... and I gotta say, these were the best scenes that I shot. So I must be a good actress."

Swiatek would recount hiring a legal team, and how she tried her best to keep her world from falling apart. Furthermore, there were several parties who had begun labeling her a cheater, which greatly affected her state of mind.

"And yeah, we met in the evening with the whole team—my doctor—and we had our first call with a lawyer. I hired him basically over the phone. And yeah, it was all pretty confusing.
"Honestly, I was a total mess. During this meeting, I was basically joking because I was being sarcastic and everything, just to keep it together. You know how it is sometimes. Then when everybody left, I just cried for two weeks.
"I couldn’t practice. I couldn’t step out on the court because I felt like tennis did this to me. Like I was in this place because of tennis. I felt like I was losing my integrity. Like no one was going to believe that I didn’t do anything wrong. I felt like the whole world was going to turn their backs on me and that I was finished. That every accomplishment I had was suddenly going to disappear.

She added that she bunkered down from there almost and that she tried to block it out by spending time with friends but that questions started to circle about why she wasn't playing. She also had it in the back of her head that some were more rational about it than others inside the sport.

Some stood by Swiatek while others such as Nick Kyrgios who also went for Jannik Sinner have been damning of the Pole.

"My team helped me a lot, making the process logical. They told me, along with the lawyer, what I needed to do. We started testing all my supplements and medicines, and just doing the research.
"But most days, I just tried to block it out. I was meeting with my friends, who didn’t have a clue what was going on. They saw I wasn’t injured and wasn’t playing, so one of them kind of guessed that I might be in some trouble. At some point, I told them, which also wasn’t easy.
"Everybody was saying I shouldn’t tell anyone. Because, yeah—I know there was some PR fuss about players not being clear about what's going on with their fans and social media. But truth be told, if anyone came out and said something like this without any explanation, without any data or proof that they did nothing wrong, we would all be finished. Everybody would just hate us.
"Regardless of what other athletes say, I spoke to some who were rational, but others were angry that I didn’t disclose everything straight away. But honestly, if I had to tell everybody without being able to defend myself, I don’t know what would’ve happened to me. I would’ve been in a really, really, really bad place.
"So yeah, my team was really helpful. It was amazing how everybody got together to help me and keep me going. And for sure, Daria knowing me so well and being my psychologist, she helped me, both then and months later when I was already back on the court. I had so many thoughts about this whole process. She helped me find logic in it, even though it was super hard, and to be grateful about being able to play again, rather than focusing on the bad thing that happened."

After winning Wimbledon, Swiatek is slated to return at the Canadian Open, where she will take on China's Guo Hanyu in the second round. But while that is the case, she said that she had the vision of a perfect storm amid telling the world but it wasn't that.

"Well, I wanted to explain it because I came back on court, and people forgot that I had this kind of problem. They just thought it was going to be back to normal—back to winning everything.
"Honestly, I thought that as well at some point. I had this kind of perfect Instagram vision that, you know, "what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger"—that kind of blah blah blah. And yeah, it works sometimes.
"But I was also expecting that it would make me stronger. That I’d be back on tour with rage, and that I’d be strong and ready to prove everyone wrong.
"Well... I didn’t feel that way. I felt like the world was attacking me and destroying my life. So it was a bit different. I think I needed to explain that to the fans."

She said that they'd forgot about it ultimately by the time the clay started and that she was able to focus on herself from there which she did heading into winning Wimbledon.

And honestly, everybody listened and understood. It’s hard for me to go into a press conference and explain this kind of stuff, because I feel like I should be able to deal with it myself. So writing a post like that was easier.

And yeah, I felt like it was a good idea. It made it easier to talk about it in the media before Miami, for example—and everybody understood. But they forgot about it again when the clay court season started.

But yeah, as I said, I really just tried to focus on myself. I knew what problems I needed to solve, what challenges I had to overcome—and at some point I did that. And I’m happy with my Wimbledon trophy now.