Iga Swiatek is going through a turbulent end to the year: she could not confirm her position as the number 1 tennis player in the world ranking, she failed to defend her WTA Finals title and, as if that were not enough, she was suspended one month for doping.
All of these situations are generating a strong impact around them, from the emotional to the economic and organizational.
In an interview with her country’s television, five-time Grand Slam champion detailed her first feelings when she was notified of testing positive for trimetazidine a few days ago, at the end of the 2024 season of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
“I cried a lot. When players are notified of something, we usually receive an email, so I thought it would be a common notification, but it turned out to be much more serious,” said the player who, at 23 years old, is already in the top 10 tennis players. women with the highest income in history.
“I had a very violent reactiona mixture of incomprehension and panic (…) I couldn’t read the email until the end because I was already bathed in tears. They said my reaction was as if someone had died. “I’m glad I wasn’t alone at that time.”
It was at the end of November when the International Agency for Integrity in Tennis (ITIA) revealed the suspension for Iga Swiatek, after a few months of investigation process. The urine test that tested positive for trimetazidine was at the beginning of August, during the WTA 1000 Open in Cincinnati, in the United States.
The Pole was suspended for the first time from September 22 to October 4, so she could not participate in three WTA Tour tournaments: the Korea Open (WTA 500 level), the China Open and the Wuhan Open (the latter, level 1000).
In the end, the ITIA noted that the level of guilt of the four-time Roland Garros champion is within the lowest range of the scale of the World Anti-Doping Codewhose official definition is “Without significant fault or negligence.”
Despite this, and the fact that the WTA itself wrote a statement of support, Iga Swiatek defined with a strong emotional impact everything she experienced regarding doping, considering that she is a player unrelated to scandals.
The second impact was on his portfolio, as he says that he resorted to hiring a lawyer from the United States, a specialist in this type of situation, to find a prompt solution without affecting his promising career.
“It helped me to have already earned a lot of money and to be able to spend it on my defense without even blinking. I know that many athletes do not have these opportunities and I think this is something that can stop them, because I paid for the entire process and I spent about 90,000 dollars”.
And, according to the official WTA site, Iga Swiatek has an accumulated prize money of $33,141,991 throughout her professional career, which began in 2016.
It is an award that comes from the 22 singles titles he has achieved, especially the five of Grand Slam (four from Roland Garros and one from US Open)the WTA Finals 2023 in Cancun and a dozen WTA 1000 trophies, which are the ones with the largest purses.
On the other hand, the entire doping situation caused Swiatek to decide to change an element of his staff, although more attached to the image part than to sports.
He replaced his head of press and public relations, Paula Wolecka, who had been in that position for just over three years. She was replaced by Daria Sulgostowska, a graduate of the University of Warsaw and with recent positions within the Polish Tennis Association (PZT, for its acronym in Polish).
Previously, Iga Swiatek had decided to change coaches. He replaced the Polish Tomasz Wiktorowski, with whom he worked for three years, with the Belgian Wim Fisette, who has worked with top players such as Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka.
The last tournament Iga Swiatek competed in was the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, where her country, Poland, was eliminated by Italy in the semi-finals. Heading into the 2025 season, his name already appears on the entry list for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam (in January).
