Nearly $100,000 to prove innocence: Iga Swiatek opens up about doping case expenses

Iga Swiatek confessed how her financial situation helped her prove her innocence in the doping controversy. The 5-time Grand Slam champion had to act quickly to deal with the doping issue and noted that she doesn't regret spending nearly $100,000 to clear her name.

The world No. 2 tested positive for Tramatizidine during the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open in early August after an anti-doping test. About a month later, after finishing her participation in the US Open, the Polish player was informed that her sample tested positive for doping.

The news shocked the Pole, who revealed that as soon as she read the email, she panicked and began to cry as if "someone died.” Swiatek managed to appeal and prove her innocence, receiving a sanction of just one month.

“My reaction was very violent. It was a mixture of incomprehension and panic. There was a lot of crying,” she said. “We get a notification by email and by text message when there is a problem or when we need to complete something in the documents. I opened the email and thought it was a notification that players automatically get when they have to do something," she commented to Anita Werner on Fakty po Faktach on TVN24, according to Tennis Infinity.

“But this time it turned out that the email was much more serious. Generally, I wasn’t able to read it to the end, because I was already drenched in tears. My managers said that my reaction was as if someone had died or something serious had happened to my health. I’m glad I wasn’t alone, because I was able to hand them the phone and show them what happened.”

The 23-year-old player realized after the panic that she needed to act quickly and met with her team to find a way to solve the problem. They decided that it was necessary to hire the best lawyers to prepare her defense, which involved a significant financial investment from Swiatek.

“The fact that I have such a position has definitely made me gather people around me who, as soon as I found out about this situation, bent over backwards to help me. A few hours after I found out, we all met and had a brainstorming session. I hired a lawyer from the [United] States who specialized in such cases.”

"The fact that I had already earned a lot of money and could afford to spend it on my defence, without even blinking an eye, has definitely helped. I know that many athletes do not have such opportunities and I think this is something that may hold them back, because I actually paid for the entire process.”

While Swiatek initially received a provisional suspension, it was postponed after she appealed to the ITIA. However, she served some weeks of suspension during the Asian Swing, though her suspension was not yet public at that time.

After it was determined that she had ‘no significant fault or negligence,’ Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension, which was made public after her exit from the WTA Finals. She had only one week of suspension left to serve, which ended on December 5 during the off-season. However, acting quickly involved a significant monetary expense for the Polish player.

“I spent about $70,000 on a lawyer, €15,000 on expert opinions and tests,” she declared. “On top of that, there was also the loss of the financial prize for Cincinnati, but – to be honest – it didn’t matter to me. The most important thing was to prove my innocence. I give these amounts in order to make people realize the problems faced by athletes who don’t make as much money as I do on the court and play sports in which salaries are much lower," Swiatek concluded.

The Pole will return to action starting December 29 in the United Cup. For the third consecutive year, she will join Hubert Hurkacz in Team Poland in pursuit of the title. In 2023, they reached the semifinals and were eliminated by the USA, while in 2024, they reached the final but were defeated by Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Laura Siegemund. This time, the Poles were drawn against the Czech Republic and Norway in the Group Stage, which will be held in Sydney.