Wada makes appeal decision on Iga Swiatek drugs ban

The five-time grand slam champion accepted a one month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance in August

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has said that it will not lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in the case of Iga Swiatek after the former World No 1 tested positive for prohibited substance trimetazidine (TMZ).

The five-time grand slam champion had accepted a one-month suspension in November after testing positive for TMZ in an out-of-competition sample in August which was caused by contamination of her medication melatonin.

Swiatek had said she had been taking it for jet lag and sleep issues and did not receive a lengthy ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ruled there was no significant fault or negligence on her part.

"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 said after booking her place in the Australian Open quarter-finals with a convincing win over Eva Lys. "Yeah, I'm just satisfied."

Swiatek dropped just a single game in dispatching lucky loser Lys, setting up a last eight meeting with Emma Navarro.

"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.

"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."

Men's World No 1 Jannik Sinner is still under the scanner after testing positive for anabolic agent clostebol. The Italian was also cleared of wrongdoing but WADA lodged an appeal to the CAS, with a hearing starting on 16 April.

Reuters