Swiatek relieved as drug drama reaction fades

Iga Swiatek has expressed relief that blowback from her autumn drug-test infringement has died down, with competitors and fans accepting her explanation of an honest mistake on her team.

The world No. 2 Pole who is starting her season in Sydney at the mixed-team United Cup, served a one-month ban in September and October after testing positive for trimetazidine, a treatment for angina, in August.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency ruled the former No. 1 had “no significant fault or negligence” after ingesting a microscopic quantity of the substance through contaminated melatonin used for jet lag.

“The response has been more positive than I thought. I think people are, most of them, understanding and the ones who read the documents and are aware of how the system works, they know that I had no fault and I had no influence on what was going on,” Swiatek said on Friday before the start of play.

“I tried to just go on with my life and focus on different things. Focus on preparing for the season and on tennis because this is the best thing you can do after a case like that.

““I tried to just go on with my life and focus on different things. Focus on preparing for the season and on tennis because this is the best thing you can do after a case like that”