Iga Swiatek 'satisfied' as WADA decides not to appeal against world No 2’s doping ban

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has decided against appealing Iga Swiatek’s doping case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) – sport’s highest court. The news on Monday came as a major relief for world No.2 tennis player, Swiatek, who has reached the quarter-finals of the ongoing Australia Open 2025.

Former world No.1 had tested positive for the banned hormone and metabolic modulator trimetazidine in August and was provisionally banned the following month . She then successfully appealed against her provisional ban and returned to action in October after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the explanation her positive test was caused by contamination of her medication melatonin.

She accepted a one-month ban that ended on 4 December after accounting for time already served.

‘No scientific grounds to challenge Swiatek’s doping’

WADA said on Monday there would be no scientific grounds to challenge Swiatek’s explanation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“WADA has conducted a full review of the case file related to the ITIA decision, which it received on 29 November,” WADA said in a statement.

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“WADA’s scientific experts have confirmed that the specific contaminated melatonin scenario, as presented by the athlete and accepted by the ITIA, is plausible and that there would be no scientific grounds to challenge it at CAS.”

WADA’s announcement came shortly after the five-time Grand Slam champion, Swiatek, produced a ruthless display during her 6-0 6-1 win over German lucky loser Eva Lys.

Swiatek: ‘I just want to play tennis’

“For sure I’m just satisfied that I can get closure and I can just move on and finish this whole process, because I just want to play tennis and focus on the tournament,” Swiatek told reporters. “Yeah, I’m just satisfied.”

Swiatek said anyone who knew the details of her case would be understanding.

“The locker room has also been pretty nice,” she added.

“The girls are understanding … Now for sure, I just want to put this behind me, because I have already been on tour for quite a few weeks, and it’s all been good.

“I don’t expect any changes. I’m happy people understand.”

However, men’s world number one Jannik Sinner is still under the scanner after testing positive for the anabolic androgenic agent clostebol in March last year.

The Italian was also cleared of wrongdoing but WADA lodged an appeal to CAS, with a hearing starting on April 16.

Earlier on Monday, he shrugged off illness to battle past Holger Rune 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, where he is the defending champion.

With agency inputs