Swiatek under fire: Jason Goodall demands more transparency from the WTA – “We were told she was taking some time to work”

Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended for nearly a month during the Asian swing, missing three tournaments — including two WTA 1000 events. This suspension ultimately cost her the World No. 1 ranking.

However, at the time, Swiatek did not disclose that her absence was due to suspension, instead citing personal reasons for skipping the Asian tournaments. The suspension was kept under wraps while she appealed the decision, allowing her to compete at the WTA Finals, where she was eliminated in the round-robin stage.

"I want more transparency"

Shortly after the season ended, Swiatek revealed the full details of the case, stating she had accepted a one-month suspension, of which seven days remained. With the season over, she served the remaining suspension in early December, clearing her to return to competition at the United Cup, the opening tournament of the 2025 season.

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The controversy came just months after Jannik Sinner faced a similar situation, concealing a positive test result and avoiding suspension. Both Swiatek and Sinner faced mixed reactions, and former player and Tennis Channel commentator Jason Goodall recently weighed in with sharp criticism of Swiatek.

Goodall, speaking with coach Mark Petchey and former top-30 player Christopher Eubanks, criticised the World No. 2 for a lack of transparency: “We've had a couple of high-profile doping cases this season with Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, and the one thing that I didn’t like was the lack of transparency in those two cases.”

"We only learned about Sinner's case before the start of the US Open, though it occurred earlier in the season, in the spring. With Iga's case, we were told she was taking some time to work with her coach on different aspects of her game. That wasn’t the case. That was just a blatant lie.”

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Goodall argued that such situations should be publicly disclosed immediately and that both the ATP and WTA should take responsibility for clarifying these issues: “We didn’t know she was serving a soft suspension. Why wouldn’t we know that? Just tell the truth. If a player’s tested positive, like Sinner, with both the A and B samples, we should know the facts of the case. Why don’t we know that?

“And then, if there are questions to be answered, who are the spokespeople for the ATP and WTA? Who can we ask? I want more transparency; I don’t want any soft, secret suspensions.”