Swiatek, Sinner discuss their doping cases ahead of the Australian Open

Iga Swiatek, a self-described "control freak," is taking new precautions — including holding on to extra samples of medicine she takes, in case they need to be tested at some point — after a doping case she described Friday as "probably, like, the worst time in my life."

Jannik Sinner, another player who spent time at No. 1 and tested positive in 2024, said ahead of the Australian Open, where he's the defending champion, that he hasn't been told when the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal of his exoneration will be heard in court.

"I know exactly as much as you guys know," Sinner said in response to a reporter's question at a news conference Friday in Melbourne. "We are in a stage where we don't know many, many things."

As confident as he repeatedly has said he is about the eventual outcome, the 23-year-old Italian acknowledged that it's on his mind as the year's first Grand Slam tournament is set to begin Sunday.

"Yeah, you think about this, of course," Sinner said. "I would lie if I would tell you I forget."

He and Swiatek, a five-time major champion, both were able to go for months last season without anyone knowing what was happening behind the scenes and that they'd failed tests.

Sinner tested positive twice for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid at a tournament in March; those results — and the fact that he was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) — did not come out until August, shortly before the start of the U.S. Open, which he would go on to win. He was cleared because the ITIA accepted his explanation: A trainer exposed Sinner to a banned substance by giving him a massage shortly after using a cream on his own injured finger.

Swiatek failed an out-of-competition drug test in August, but