Iga Swiatek seemingly lost ranking points because of testing positive for a banned substance, but the WTA will not apply that to the weeks she had at No. 1.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced two punishments for Swiatek after she tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine from an out-of-competition sample submitted on August 12th.
Swiatek received a provisional ban on September 12th, but the 2022 US Open champion successfully appealed that decision after testing proved that melatonin, a legal product, had been contaminated with trimetazidine.
The first punishment given to Swiatek was a one-month suspension. She served most of that while provisionally banned, meaning the 23-year-old can freely return at the start of the 2025 season.
Swiatek’s other punishment mentioned in the official statement was forfeiting the prize money earned from the Cincinnati Open, which she reached the semifinal of because it was the tournament directly following the test.
There was no mention of Swiatek losing her ranking points from the Cincinnati Open. The Pole accumulated 390 points at the tournament by reaching the semifinal, falling to the eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.
That contrasted with Jannik Sinner’s case. Although the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s investigation cleared him of wrongdoing, it also announced the Italian had forfeited his prize money and ranking points from the Indian Wells Open.
Sinner’s two positive results for the banned substance clostebol occurred at the Indian Wells Open, leading to that decision. He lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal of the Masters 1000 tournament.
The World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to appeal Sinner’s case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport means it is unclear whether Sinner’s forfeiture of points and prize money from the Indian Wells Open will still stand.
Although the International Tennis Integrity Agency did not announce the loss of any ranking points for Swiatek, tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg reported that Swiatek did drop the 390 points she earned in Cincinnati.
Rothenberg confidently wrote on his website that the WTA had answered a question from him about the topic by stating that Swiatek had lost the points, despite the International Tennis Integrity Agency never confirming this in its statement about Swiatek’s case.
However, the American journalist claimed that Swiatek would not forfeit any weeks at No. 1, meaning the five-time Grand Slam champion’s lost points would only apply to her ranking from the time of the announcement last week.
Had the WTA applied the points deduction to the week after the Cincinnati Open, Swiatek would have spent one less week at No. 1, and Aryna Sabalenka, the year-end No. 1, a week extra.
Rothenberg is slightly confused by the WTA’s explanation because the points loss should have been implemented in the new rankings released on Monday, December 2nd, but that was not the case.
It is important to emphasize that the WTA made no official announcement about Swiatek losing her points from the Cincinnati Open. Nonetheless, Rothenberg claims he has asked for clarification about why the Pole’s point loss was not made in the latest rankings
