Fritz Condemns Tennis Fans’ ‘Crazy Prejudices’ After Swiatek’s Doping Suspension

Taylor Fritz gave a clear idea of ​​how many tennis fans react to doping cases, criticizing people for being tribal and not thinking logically.

The issue of doping has arguably made more headlines than any other year in sports history as two of the most high-profile names in the game tested positive for a banned substance in 2024.

A few days before this year’s US Open, it was made public that Jannik Sinner had tested positive twice at the Indian Wells Open in March after a massage from his physiotherapist, who used a spray containing small traces of the banned substance clostebol.

After a five-month dedicated investigation, the International Tennis Integrity Agency cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing and he escaped the ban. His only punishment was losing the prize money and qualifying points he earned from Indian Wells.

Sinner also did not receive a temporary suspension because the 23-year-old quickly identified where the pollution was occurring. However, some fans and fellow players were not happy that the investigation remained secret.

Unfortunately, the Sinner’s suffering is not over yet. The World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed the decision to exonerate him and is seeking a one- to two-year ban. The Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to make a decision in early 2025.

This story about the current ATP No. 1 was shocking in itself, but Iga Swiatek, who dominated the WTA No. 1 position since April 2022 until recently being overtaken by Aryna Sabalenka, also tested positive for a banned substance.

Swiatek was given an interim suspension on September 12 after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine. Ten days later, on September 22, the four-time French Open champion appealed the provisional ban.

Tests by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory confirmed that Swiatek’s statement that an over-the-counter medicine was contaminated with trimetazidine was correct, meaning the International Tennis Integrity Agency has lifted the provisional ban.

Swiatek accepted the one-month ban due to the extremely low level of negligence. The fact that the Pole’s case, like Sinner’s, was private because he successfully appealed the provisional ban, disturbed some and raised questions about transparency.

But Fritz is more disturbed that fans’ opinions on doping cases on social media are based on whether they like or dislike the player in question, and thinks it’s ridiculous that many people don’t look at the cases objectively.

“What makes me CRAZY about these situations (in terms of X continuing) isn’t the actual cases themselves. It’s hard to know exactly what happened/all the details in all of these specific cases, so speculation talk isn’t really my thing, it’s my favorite thing to do.”

“It’s good to have your own honest opinions, but what I cannot understand, and what makes me so sad as a player to see, is the CRAZY bias of the tennis community supporting any story that pushes the agenda they want to advance.”

“If the opponent of the player you support tests positive then you are on the team, “let’s call them dopers/cheaters/disgrace them as much as possible” and if it is your favorite player then “he is innocent, no questions asked” “How do you remove your own personal biases and make yourself educated and honest Can’t you form an opinion?”

“Even if you prove your innocence as a player (I’m not saying anyone does or doesn’t) people who support opposing players/have bias against you will always blindly push the narrative that you’re a cheater and that fact makes me truly sad for all the truly innocent players who have to go through this.”