Five women's tennis players who got banned for doping

Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek was handed a one-month tennis doping ban.

Iga Swiatek has become the latest tennis player to receive a ban for doping. Swiatek, a former World No. #1 and five-time Grand Slam champion, has received a one month ban after testing positive for banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ).

However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has issued a statement and announced that the player’s level of fault was at the lowest end of the range for ‘No Significant Fault or Negligence’ and intentional, Swiatek will serve a one-month. In light of this, we look back to the five tennis female players banned for doping. 

Maria Sharapova (2016)

Popular women’s tennis star Maria Sharapova was given a two-year ban from competition for doping, the International Tennis Federation tribunal announced in 2016. Sharapova was alleged to have submitted a urine sample on January 26 of that year following her quarter-final match at the Australian Open in Melbourne, according to an independent tribunal convened by the ITF, the sport’s global governing body.

The drug meldonium, which the World Anti-Doping Agency listed as being prohibited, was discovered in the sample.

Simona Halep (2022, 2023)

Simona Halep, a former World No. #1 tennis player, received a four-year suspension in a doping case, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on September 12th, 2023.

After testing positive for the drug roxadustat at the US Open in 2022, it was found that Halep had irregularities in her athlete biological passport after the analysis of 51 blood samples. Halep won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon the following year.

Martina Hingis (2007)

The Swiss star, Martina Hingis, tested positive in 2007 for the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine. As a result, Hingis was disqualified from the competition for two years. The former World No. #1 had appealed, but her appeal was rejected by ITF and as a result, she had to forfeit the previous year’s Wimbledon prize money she won along with the subsequent events.  

Also Read: Top three tennis players who escaped doping ban

Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová (2013)

A six-month suspension was imposed on Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova after a positive stimulant test, in 2013. According to the International Tennis Federation, the 26-year-old tennis player’s sample from the Luxembourg Open on October 16, 2012, contained sibutramine, a stimulant that is forbidden by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The Czech player, who improved to 39th place in the world rankings in 2010, said that sibutramine got into her system as a result of taking a supplement called Acai Berry Thin, which is marketed as a way to speed up metabolism. 

Her claim that she had not meant to utilise the substance to enhance her performance was accepted by the ITF. She was then given a six-month suspension with a start date of 16 October 2012 and an expiry date of 16 April 2013. She lost all prize money and ranking points linked with her rankings at the Luxembourg Open and the 2012 Büschl Open in Germany, which was held a week later.

Iga Swiatek (2024)

Former World No. #1 Iga Swiatek was handed a one-month suspension having tested positive for a heart medication, trimetazidine (TMZ), in an out-of-competition sample in August 2024, when she was world number one.

Also Read: Iga Swiatek banned after testing positive for illegal substance

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed an investigation determined the source was a contaminated regulated medication. However, it ruled that Swiatek bore no significant fault or negligence for the failed test.

Since Swiatek’s level of fault is considered to be at the lowest end of the range for ‘No Significant Fault or Negligence’, the ITIA offered just a month’s suspension.

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