Arthur Cazaux suggests it would be much better if everybody focused on their own careers instead of putting too much energy into debating the Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek doping cases as the Frenchman highlights there is probably no way to ever get a definitive and clear answer on what really happened.
Over the last couple of months, there has been more focus on some other things than the actual tennis. After it was announced that the top-ranked ATP player failed two doping tests but that his case was handled in dark before it was determined that he “bore no fault or negligence” for what happened, some had questions and that also led to numerous conspiracy theories and double standards.
As if that wasn’t enough, another high-profile doping situation occurred after the ITIA revealed in late November that Swiatek tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ). That case also secretly handled – but unlike in the Sinner case – the five-time Grand Slam champion was suspended for a few weeks before accepting a one-month ban.
But one thing was the same as in the Italian’s case – the Pole started hearing that she was treated differently and that she avoided a harsher sanction only because she was one of the very best in the game. The double standard claims and conspiracy theories weren’t made only by fans but also by some players.
However, 22-year-old Cazaux doesn’t belong in that group – and not only that – he doesn’t even want to think or speak about ti too much.
“How do I experience it? I don’t really care about others. If he was doped at that time or not, I don’t care, I focus on myself, I want to be the best player possible and I avoid looking at what’s going on next door. I can understand that it causes people to talk in the sense that if we know that he or she was suspended for one or two months and that there are players who haven’t tested positive and who have just missed anti-doping tests, because you have to know that if you miss three tests in one year, you’re suspended and there are several players who have been suspended for several years even though they weren’t necessarily doped,” Cazaux said during his appearance on FT Sports, as revealed on We Love Tennis.
Arthur Cazaux © FT Sports – YouTube
When it specifically comes to conspiracy theories, the 22-year-old simply noted that even if something murky happened there, it would never come to light.
“So I can understand that it causes people to talk at that level. I’m not here to get into the debates, ‘Are they doped and protected?’ I don’t know and we’ll never know anyway. I think it’s better to focus on yourself,” the world No. 63 added.
Swiatek was very passionate in defending herself: ‘As if someone died…’
The day the ITIA announced the news regarding her case, the 23-year-old posted an Instagram video, in which she claimed that she didn’t even know what TMZ.
Then a couple of days ago, the WTA world No. 2 said that she instantly fell into the state of panic after being informed about a failed doping test as she “cried a lot” to the point that her team had to everything they could to calm her down. Later, she was told by her team that she reacted as if someone died.
“My reaction was very violent. It was a mixture of incomprehension and panic. There was a lot of crying. We get a notification by email and by text message when there is a problem or when we need to complete something in the documents. I opened the email and thought it was a notification that players automatically get when they have to do something,” Swiatek told Anita Werner on Fakty po Faktach on TVN24.
“But this time it turned out that the email was much more serious. Generally, I wasn’t able to read it to the end, because I was already drenched in tears. My managers said that my reaction was as if someone had died or something serious had happened to my health. I’m glad I wasn’t alone, because I was able to hand them the phone and show them what happened.”
In her first message, the Pole also said that it was “the toughest battle” of her career and pleaded to fans and the general public not to change their opinions about her because she did not and would never do anything illegal.
Sadly for Swiatek, her explanations didn’t end the talks surrounding her doping case but the most important thing for her remains the fact that the ITIA ruled that she “bore no significant fault or negligence” for what happened.
Tennis World USA