India, Jan. 6 -- As the 2024 Australian Open approaches, Iga Swiatek is regarded as a leading contender for her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne. On Sunday, she faced Coco Gauff in the United Cup final, where she was defeated with scores of 6-4, 6-4. During the match, the Polish star also took a medical time-out in the latter stages.

In her remarks prior to the Grand Slam, she downplayed any fitness issues, stating that she was simply 'tired' following her loss to Gauff. "I definitely wasn't at my freshest today, but I will be fine," she commented.

"Nothing significant happened; I was just fatigued."

Swiatek recently served a one-month suspension for a doping violation after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine in an out-of-competition sample collected in August. The ITIA accepted her explanation that the positive result was due to contamination from a regulated non-prescription medication, melatonin, which is produced and sold in Poland.

"Initially, the tournament was quite challenging, but honestly, everything is fine," she remarked.

"I am certainly pleased because I faced some strong competitors this week, as well as players who utilize topspin, and I managed to perform well against both styles of play.

"Today, I wasn't able to give my all. Coco played exceptionally well and is undoubtedly improving. However, I am very satisfied with my performance this week and feel that the aspects I have been working on have shown improvement. That said, the week leading up to the Australian Open presents a different challenge, so I will approach everything methodically and continue with my preparations," she added.

Swiatek reportedly took the melatonin to address jet lag and sleep difficulties, and the ITIA classified the incident as unintentional. Her one-month suspension officially concluded on December 4, 2024.

Regarding Swiatek's doping case, ITIA chief Karen Moorhouse stated, "In Swiatek's situation, the contaminated product was a medication. Thus, it was not unreasonable for a player to expect that a regulated medication would contain the ingredients listed."

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