Iga Swiatek’s new coach Wim Fissette has fired back after the Pole faced criticism for her recent doping saga.
The world No. 2 tested positive for a banned substance and accepted a one-month suspension after it was acknowledged the test result was caused by the contamination of a regulated non-prescription medication.
Fissette’s comments come as Nick Kyrgios suggested Swiatek was making “excuses” and playing the “victim”.
Swiatek’s case became public in late November when the International Tennis Integrity Agency concluded its investigation. The agency accepted that the 23-year-old’s anti-doping violation was unintentional and handed her a one-month ban.
She had previously been provisionally suspended, missing three tournaments, but successfully appealed and had this lifted, and the time served counted towards her final ban. When news of Swiatek’s case broke, Kyrgios took to social media to voice his thoughts.
“The excuse that we can all use is that we didn’t know. Simply didn’t know. Professionals at the highest level of sport can now just say ‘we didn’t know’,” he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The former Wimbledon finalist also tweeted, “THIS SPORT IS COOKED,” after learning that Swiatek had been banned for one month. He continued his rant during a recent appearance on the Nothing Major podcast, where he also addressed Jannik Sinner’s doping case.
“It’s nothing personal. What would I have personal against Iga Swiatek? I’ve got nothing personal on Iga. It should be a level playing field for everyone,” he explained. “Once you get caught you can’t act like the victim. That’s what p***es me off even more about it.”
Swiatek’s coach has now hit back at her critics, claiming they had no real knowledge of her case. “There will always be people who will be negative,” Fissette told Onet.
“But I think that anyone who has read all the documents that Iga has provided and shown to the whole world, sees what happened – and should understand that it was just bad luck.
“It can happen to any player. I think that those people who are negative about the case, we should ask a few questions about Iga’s report and thus check whether they have actually read it.”
Fissette joined Swiatek’s team while she was serving her initial provisional suspension. The Belgian tennis coach revealed that she informed him of her positive test result while they were in talks to work together.
He added: “It was the last conversation before Iga hired me. She told me everything, which I appreciate. It was a great start to cooperation because we built trust in this way.”
Swiatek tested positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August 2024 and was notified of the anti-doping violation on September 12.
She was also provisionally suspended on this date but appealed this on September 22, and it was lifted on October 4. When the ITIA finished their investigation, they accepted that the TMZ came from a contaminated batch of melatonin that was manufactured and sold in Poland.
Swiatek formally admitted the violation and accepted a one-month ban. The time served during her provisional suspension counted towards this, so she was banned for eight more days until December 4.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk