Iga Swiatek has cast aside her doping saga to launch her summer campaign in explosive fashion at the United Cup in Sydney. The world No.2 crushed lowly-ranked Malene Helgo 6-1 6-0 in barely an hour to give Poland a 1-0 lead over Norway at Ken Rosewall Arena on Monday night.
Swiatek was playing her first tour match since a one-month suspension in November and December after returning a positive test for the angina medication trimetazidine, which the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted was caused by contamination of a medicine she was taking to combat jet lag. While saying on arrival in Australia that she'd expected more negative reaction to her plight, Swiatek has come under fire from players including Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios in recent days. Kyrgios claimed the bans of Swiatek and men's world No.
1 Jannik Sinner for taking prohibited substances were "disgusting" for tennis, while Djokovic agreed they were "not a good image" for the sport. But if Swiatek has even heard of the remarks, she didn't seemed fazed on court in her first match of the summer. The five-time grand slam champion broke the world No.
404 five times, won 88 per cent of points after landing her first serve and clubbed 24 winners to more than offset eight unforced errors. No wonder Swiatek said she was happy with "everything" in her game after receiving a rousing ovation from the crowd. "I'm happy for sure with the performance.
It's not easy to play for your country sometimes - the press.
