Iga Swiatek has been going through a tough phase ever since she broke the news about her doping case. For the last one week, the former world no.1 has been facing a lot of criticism – especially from tennis community. Still, there are some who are not actually concerned regarding her doping case itself. Instead, they have a lot to say on Iga’s personality. A former Russian WTA pro has expressed her unfiltered remarks on the Pole – and they are not in a positive spirit. But why so?

Ex-pro and former world no.1 Dinara Safina had a lot to speak about Iga on a Russian show, as reported by We Love Tennis. When asked about her views on the doping situation, she was more interested in sharing honest opinions about Iga as an individual instead. She set aside all the controversial stuff related to doping. According to Safina, Iga is not emotionally very strong. Especially when she steps on the court. The former Russian player believes that due to her emotionless depiction of herself, the five-time Grand Slam winner may face several obstacles going forward. “It will be interesting to watch Iga in the future. For some reason, it seems to me that her attitude masks her emotionality very well,” she said.

Moreover, Dinara even compared Iga Swiatek to a robot without expressions. She implied that this kind of behavior may lead her overall collapse at some point in the future. “She is a robot, she comes on the court as if she has no emotions. But I have a feeling that something could go wrong and everything could collapse,” she said, as reported by We Love Tennis. “From the outside, it seems that everything is too pretentious and professional,” added Dinara.

It’s surely going to be a case study for some how Iga manages to keep her emotions vanished when on court. But for now, she must be feeling disappointed following her doping controversy. However, she’s also got some people who are by her side. For example Andy Roddick, the former American ATP pro, who believes that the Polish tennis star is innocent and didn’t take the banned substance TMZ on purpose.

Andy Roddick comes forward in defense of Iga Swiatek amid her doping case

In her explanation given regarding how the prohibited substance entered her system, Iga had mentioned that she had no clue. She was not aware at all regarding her medication (melatonin) getting contaminated with TMZ. Now Andy Roddick has come forward in supporting the Polish player. While explaining his reason for believing that Iga is not guilty, he said,  “I can’t call it doping. Taking melatonin when you’re jetlagged at 2:30 in Cincinnati… It was just unfortunate for her.”

Per Roddick, Iga’s situation is more of an incident rather than something done on purpose. “It just doesn’t make sense because the headlines and the morons in our sport are saying ‘doping!’”, he said.

Furthermore, the former ATP pro even questioned the objective of testing athletes for a substance that doesn’t affect their performance (melatonin in this case). “You took melatonin? I took melatonin. Are we going to continue to catch athletes for trace amounts of the substance or contaminated melatonin that had no effect on increasing performance? What are we trying to solve with ITIA and WADA? Increasing performance. That’s what we want to stop. If all the scientists from independent organizations tell us that it doesn’t increase performance, then what the f**k do we care?” he said while expressing his frustration.

It’s very clear that Andy is in full support of Iga – which  is great for the Pole as she really needs people who stand with her during this time of adversity in her career. On a positive note, Roddick’s support will also inspire her to make a strong comeback in the next season, leaving aside all the negative thoughts.