Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has been handed a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, commonly known as TMZ, according to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). Swiatek's positive test came from an out-of-competition drug test in August. The ITIA accepted her explanation that the result was unintentional and due to contamination in a nonprescription medication, melatonin, which she was using to manage jet lag and sleep issues. The agency determined that her level of fault was 'at the lowest end of the range for no significant fault or negligence'.
This marks the second high-profile doping case in tennis recently. Top-ranked player Jannik Sinner failed two drug tests for a steroid in March but was cleared in August, just before the US Open, which he went on to win, securing his second Grand Slam title of the season. Swiatek, 23, has been ranked No. 1 for most of the past two seasons but is currently No. 2. She won the French Open in June for her fifth major championship and earned a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in early August.
Trimetazidine was also at the center of a case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for performance enhancers in 2021 but remained eligible. Swiatek formally admitted to the anti-doping rule violation on Wednesday and accepted her penalty. She had already been provisionally suspended from September 22 to October 4, missing three tournaments during the post-US Open hard-court swing in Asia – the Korea Open, the China Open, and the Wuhan Open.
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