Iga Swiatek has asserted that it is difficult to compare her doping cases to those of other players because “each of these cases is completely different.”

The five-time Grand Slam champion tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine in August ahead of the Cincinnati Open.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced last week that Swiatek had received a one-month suspension as it was deemed she carried “no significant fault or negligence.”

Swiatek’s explanation that the substance entered her body due to the contamination of non-prescription medication she had been using for jet lag and sleep issues was accepted by the ITIA.

The Pole was provisionally suspended from September 12 to October 4, meaning she had already served 22 days of her ban on the day the news emerged. She was forced to miss WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan during the suspension period.

The world No 2 returned to action at the WTA Finals in Riyadh at the start of November before ending her season at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga. Swiatek will be able to compete at her next two scheduled events: the United Cup and the Australian Open.

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‘Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek doping cases were kept secret – it’s very weird’, claims Simona Halep

ATP world No 1 Jannik Sinner avoided a ban for twice testing positive for the anabolic steroid clostebol in March, although the Italian is awaiting the outcome of a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Simona Halep, meanwhile, was given a four-year ban in September last year after testing positive for the banned blood doping agent roxadustat at the 2022 US Open.

In March, the two-time Grand Slam winner’s ban was reduced to nine months following her appeal to the CAS, allowing her to play again with immediate effect.

In an interview with Anita Werner on Polish TV channel TVN24, Swiatek addressed the suggestion that different players have received different treatment in their respective doping cases.

“I know that people need to automatically compare such situations to others that have already happened, but the truth is that each of these cases is completely different,” the 23-year-old said. “And the process of proving innocence will also be different.

“It’s hard to compare me to Sinner, to Halep, to Kamil Majchrzak, because each of us is struggling with a different problem.

“I think this is a question more for ITIA than for the player. My fate, just like the fates of others, was in their hands and they decide how each case will turn out,”

“I trust that this process is objective, that everything is done according to the regulations and no one judges a player this way or that way because of his position. But whether it is really like that, I think this is a question for ITIA.”

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