While news of Iga Swiatek’s ban for a month after an out-of-competition sample tested positive for a banned substance has been generating shockwaves in the world of women’s tennis, she continues to remain second favourite to win the 2025 Australian Open.
Swiatek was banned for a month by the International Tennis Integrity Association (ITIA) her sample contained traces of the prohibited substance Trimetazidine.
In a statement released by WTA, they not only “acknowledged the decision” but also backed the Polish player as she “consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to fair play and upholding the principles of clean sport”.
The banned substance is said to have found its way into Swiatek because of a contaminated regulated medication (melatonin) and while her fans would be heaving a sigh of relief that she would be back playing at the start of the season, some aren’t quite happy with the handling of the case.
Former French Open and Wimbledon winner Simona Halep is one of them.
Halep pointed her ire at the tennis integrity heads for doing “absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence.” This was after Halep was found to be have tested positive for another banned substance called roxadustat.
ITIA had banned Halep for four years before the suspension got overturned and changed to nine months because the Court of Arbitration for Sports ruled the Romanian had “no significant fault or negligence”. By this time Halep had already missed 16 months of tennis.
As compared to that, Swiatek missed only three tournaments before returning to feature in the WTA Finals. Swiatek ended the 2024 season with a first round ouster at that tournament, losing in straight sets to Cori Gauff – the eventual winner – and did not have the best of seasons as compared to the previous years.
She had started off well with title wins at Doha, Indian Wells and three other clay court competitions including French Open but from that point onward fell away with some underwhelming performances. This included a semifinal loss at the Paris Olympics, a third round defeat at Wimbledon and a loss in the US Open quarterfinals.
Having earlier lost in the third round at the 2024 Australian Open as well, Swiatek ended 2024 with just one Grand Slam title. In contrast, arch-rival Aryna Sabalenka grabbed titles at the Australian Open and US Open and will kick-start the 2025 season’s opening major as a heavy favourite.
Bookmakers have Swiatek at 5/1 to win at the Australian Open with Sabalenka a heavy favourite to clinch it at 9/4 (with bet365).
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