Andrea Petkovic applauded Iga Swiatek for the way she handled the doping situation as the 2014 French Open semifinalist fully believes that the Pole was going through a very rough time because she knew she was innocent.
Shortly after the ITIA announced last Thursday that the world No. 2 tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) and had served a provisional suspension before accepting a one-month ban, the 23-year-old wanted to personally explain what happened and she did so by uploading a video message on her Instagram.
In August, Swiatek provided a sample that came back as positive for a banned substance and she was informed about it on September 12th. Then, came what she described as an extremely stressful and anxious period, during which she cried a lot and couldn’t sleep all while trying to determine how a positive test happened and prove her innocence. Eventually, they found out that non-prescription melatonin pills manufactured in Poland were contaminated and the ITIA accepted that she didn’t intentionally take a prohibited substance.
In the same message, Swiatek expressed gratitude to everyone who helped her prove her innocence but also noted it was a traumatic experience that she would never forget.
Petkovic, a former world No. 9, watched the video and had no doubt…
