Iga Swiatek was recently seen practicing with her mouth taped. This raised the obvious question – why would a tennis player train with the mouth taped?

Taping the mouth encourages breathing through the nose. Nasal breathing produces nitric oxide, improving performance on the court and recovery after the practice.

Her fitness coach Maciej Ryszczuk devised this method to improve Swiatek’s endurance. Swiatek explained, “It’s harder to breathe when you’re only breathing with your nose, and it’s easier for my heart rate to increase. I think it has something to do with endurance, but I’m not going to explain it to you appropriately because I’m not an expert.”

Iga Swiatek admitted that she had difficulty understanding why her coaches and trainers ask her to do certain things. She has been practicing with her mouth taped for a long time.

Mikael Ymer is not most people’s favorite tennis player. His behavior and attitude on the court have earned him plenty of haters. But his 18-month suspension sounds harsh given the circumstances.

Tennis players provide their location to WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) for an hour of the day so that they can be tested. When Ymer traveled to Roanne to play a Challenger there, the tournament changed his hotel. WADA showed up to test Ymer but he was not at his hotel. So he was punished for missing the drug.

A player knows how important it is to not miss a drug test. That’s especially the case if you have missed two tests already. Ymer could have been more careful but where this case gets murky is that the tribunal cleared him. ITF appealed and got Ymer his 18-month ban.

Casper Ruud was appalled at what happened to Ymer. saying

It’s a shame.. What’s surprising is that he was acquitted, but the union appealed. I thought the federation was helping the players & not trying to punish them, so it obviously shows that they are not helping the players, in this case.

Alize Cornet also supported Mikael Ymer. Cornet had to deal with a similar issue in 2018 when she was suspended after missing three doping tests. But she was acquitted after a long ordeal. Cornet expressed support for Ymer saying, “ITF keeps harassing players”.