Iga Swiatek says she feels embarrassed about not being honest about her absence from the tour.

The world number two failed a doping test in August and was suspended for a month after the medication she was taking to relieve jet lag was contaminated.

The news wasn’t announced until November, after she missed three games in the fall due to a temporary suspension, which she attributed at the time to personal reasons, fatigue and a change of coach.

It was another major blow to the sport’s reputation shortly after it was announced in August that men’s world number one Jannik Sinner had failed two then-undisclosed tests in March.

“I would say the first three weeks were very chaotic. There was no way to find any answers to the questions. We were just focused on getting to the root of it,” Swiatek said ahead of the Australian Open.

“But I must say, it certainly wasn’t easy. It was probably the worst moment of my life. The fact that I had no control over the whole situation and no chance of avoiding it made it even worse because I’m a bit of a control freak.

“Just feeling like everything I’ve built could be taken away so quickly because of something you can’t control is very crazy to me and very abstract.

“For the first two or three weeks I just focused on myself because I wasn’t in a good situation. I was having trouble on the court. I think tennis affected me a little bit. I didn’t really read things because of the priorities. It’s me and my happiness.

“Afterwards, things became very awkward. We chose to speak out in the first game for personal reasons because we sincerely believed that the ban would be lifted soon.

“It was obvious from the start that something was contaminated because the levels of the substance in my urine were very low so it must have been contaminated.

“Since we have no control over the decisions of ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) we don’t know what will happen and therefore we cannot make any logical plans. We started with personal issues because I still need time to sort everything out” .

Swiatek returned to the WTA Finals and Billie Jean Gold Cup finals after his temporary suspension was lifted but before the news broke.

She admitted she was worried about the reaction but thanked her competitors for their support.

“That’s the worst thing for me, as people would say, besides not being able to play,” she said. “Because I’ve always tried to be a good role model, demonstrate my integrity and exhibit good behavior.

“Again, not being able to control the case does scare me a little bit. But in the dressing room, the girls are great. I’ve seen at this exhibition in Abu Dhabi (in December) that they are really supportive.

“Most of them even come to me. They say, ‘Hey, how can we avoid this? Is there any way we can be more careful?’ They’re worried it’s going to happen to them too.

“There’s a lot of top players – I won’t name names – who are really supportive of me. I’m really grateful because it makes me feel a lot better when I come back and I didn’t know how.”

Second seed Swiatek will face Czech Katrina Siniakova in the first round in Melbourne.

What’s coming to Sky Sports Tennis?

• ABN AMRO Rotterdam Open (ATP 500) – February 3-9
• Dallas Open (ATP 500) – February 3-9
• Delray Beach Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
• IEB+ Argentina Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
• The 13th Provence Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
• Transylvania Open (WTA 250) – February 3-9
• Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) – February 3-8
• Qatar TotalEnergies Open (WTA 1000) – February 9-15
• Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship (WTA 1000) – February 16-22

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