Swiatek was banned for a month by ITIA (tennis's international testing organization), after testing positive for the doping-classed heart medicine trimetazidin.
Later, it has been revealed that the former world number one had ingested the prohibited substance through another contaminated medicine. This has been confirmed by an independent testing laboratory, approved by the international doping organization Wada.
Reminiscent of Sinner's fall
Swiatek says she was afraid of being ostracized after the doping scandal, but that the general public's response has been generally positive.
I think people, most of them, understand. Those who read the documents and are aware of how the system works know that I didn't do anything wrong and that I had no influence over what happened, says Swiatek.
Her case is reminiscent of men's world number one Jannik Sinner, who tested positive for metabolite of clostebol earlier this year. He was acquitted by ITIA, but Wada chose to appeal the decision in September and he is awaiting the outcome.
Swiatek, however, expects Wada not to appeal this time.
"There is no reason"
I provided all possible evidence, and honestly, there's not much more to do. There is no reason to appeal, in our opinion, says she.
The five-time Grand Slam winner continues:
I managed to find the source (of contamination) pretty quickly. That's why the case could be resolved fairly quickly.
Swiatek was temporarily suspended from September 12 to October 4, missed three tournaments, and lost her top ranking. The news of the suspension came, however, only in November.
Right now, the Pole is preparing to play her first tournament since then in the United Cup for mixed teams in Sydney, ahead of the Australian Open in January.
