Coco Gauff delivers Iga Swiatek ‘confidence’ verdict after Pole’s doping case
Coco Gauff believes that Iga Swiatek’s “confidence” has not dipped in the aftermath of her doping case.
World No 2 Swiatek served a one-month suspension at the tail-end of 2024 after being found of “no significant fault” for a positive drug test, which occurred in August 2024.
Swiatek initially served a three-week provisional suspension after her positive test for TMZ, which was overturned on appeal, and then served one more week to complete her ban in November 2024.
The former world No 1 successfully argued that she had accidentally been contaminated with the substance, due to a factory error through the melatonin medication she had taken.
On her return to tour following her initial provisional ban, Swiatek was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Gauff at the WTA Finals, an event the American went on to win.
Gauff has since beaten Swiatek again at the United Cup, downing the five-time major winner 6-4, 6-4 in a high-quality encounter to help USA defeat Poland in the final.
Those were just the second and third wins for Gauff over the Pole, who had previously won 11 of their 12 meetings.
Many have questioned if Swiatek was playing with the same level of belief in the aftermath of the controversy.
However, when asked about her rival in her Australian Open pre-tournament press conference, world No 3 Gauff was keen to insist that Swiatek was still as confident as ever.
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She said: “I wouldn’t say she’s dropped her confidence.
“For me, I don’t know her personally well, but just from the interactions that we’ve had, I definitely don’t think anything she did was intentional.
“I feel like I don’t think she was maybe – I mean, like I found out with the rest of the world. I don’t think she is not confident in herself.
“She’s playing great tennis. The match we played, I just happened to be a little better that day, maybe won a few points. It could have easily gone the other way.
“I think she’s fine. I don’t know her well enough to tell you if she feels some type of way about it. I can just say from what I see I think she’s doing fine.
“She’s still No 2 in the world and playing amazing tennis. She’s always going to play amazing tennis, so, yeah, I think she’ll be fine.”
Gauff and Swiatek have landed on opposite halves of the Australian Open draw, meaning the two cannot meet until the final.
Third seed Gauff is in the top half of the draw alongside world No 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, who she could face in the semi-final for the second straight year.
Gauff starts her campaign against 2020 champion Sofia Kenin, who won when the two met in the opening round of Wimbledon back in 2023.
Second seed Swiatek begins her campaign against Katerina Siniakova.
