Wim Fissette defends Iga Swiatek from brutal doping accusations

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Wim Fissette, the new coach of Iga Swiatek, has defended the Polish player from the criticism that rained down on her after the announcement of her one-month suspension for failing a doping test

Fissette - in an interview with The National - stressed how trust is the basis of any good relationship in their team from the beginning, highlighting how Iga talked to him about the case, leaving it to Fissette himself to decide on their collaboration.

"I have been observing her values ​​and work ethic for a long time. I was sure she was innocent, so it did not influence my decision to join the team. It was an extremely stressful and difficult situation for Iga and the entire team. However, Iga is a fighter on and off the court. This was another difficult battle that she won.

Now we will focus together on the next season, supporting each other and working as a team. As a coach, it is a dream to work with a player like her. Everyone has seen her matches, but probably also her practices. She plays with intensity and focus, she is determined and has a mission every time she is on the court. That is something I have always admired in her," he said.

Iga has already been suspended for a month and has six days to serve, after testing positive in a doping test carried out last August. The prohibited substance is trimetazidine (TMZ). The Polish player accepted the disqualification imposed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency. The latter found that it was a contamination of a non-prescription drug in Poland and that the violation is not to be considered intentional.

The news was made public by the ITIA only in the early afternoon of Thursday, November 28, inevitably shocking the entire world of tennis, still struggling with the case involving Jannik Sinner. It is important to reiterate that the two cases are difficult to compare and contrast, both in terms of the sanction imposed and the investigations carried out, due to a series of differences that are easily understood from the explanations of what happened, as well as the different type of substance.

Iga provided an out-of-competition urine sample on August 12, 2024, which tested positive for TMZ at low levels. ITIA, as required by law, sent a pre-charge notice of anti-doping rule violation on September 12th, pursuant to Article 2.1 of the TADP (presence of a prohibited substance in a player's sample) and/or Article 2.2 (use of a prohibited substance without a valid therapeutic use exemption). The sample was split to allow two WADA-accredited laboratories to perform the necessary analyses: both returned positive results.

The results for unspecified substances resulted in a mandatory provisional suspension, imposed on September 12th. This resulted in the Pole having to miss the WTA 500 in Korea (September 16-22), the WTA 1000 in Beijing (September 25-October 6) and the WTA 1000 in Wuhan (October 7-13).

Ten days after the suspension began, on September 22, Swiatek exercised her right to appeal. While the appeal was being considered, the Pole notified the chairman of the independent tribunal that she had identified the source of the positive test as an over-the-counter melatonin medicine, manufactured and regulated in Poland.

The Polish player's claim was confirmed by the independent and WADA-accredited Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Utah.

Once the tests were completed and confirmed the evidence provided by the tennis player, the ITIA did not oppose the lifting of her forced suspension. The chairman of the independent tribunal lifted the provisional suspension on October 4. The time spent under provisional suspension was counted towards the period of ineligibility. Therefore, Swiatek’s suspension period will officially end on December 4. Here is the full report of the decision.

"Once the TMZ source was established, it became clear that this was a highly unusual case of a contaminated product, which is a regulated medicine in Poland. However, the product does not have the same designation globally and the fact that a medicine is regulated in one country cannot in itself be sufficient to avoid any level of fault. Taking into account the nature of the medicine and all the circumstances, fault was found at the lowest level of the scale," said ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse.

In recent days, there has been strong criticism against the Polish player and against ITIA, even from many tennis players, such as Nick Kyrgios and Simona Halep. The Romanian expressed her frustration by explaining how there was a different disparity of treatment between her doping case and that of the Polish player. This is also the criticism that many tennis players, former tennis players and the media have made towards Sinner, who - according to them - would have received a different treatment compared to similar cases in the past as ATP No.1.