Romanian Simona Halep, former leader of the ranking and current ninth tennis player in the world, has been provisionally suspended due to a positive anti-doping test, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Friday.
Halep blamed the consumption of Roxadustat, a drug that stimulates red blood cell production, commonly used to treat kidney problems and on the banned list, following a check conducted during the 2022 US Open.
The 31-year-old Romanian had a short-lived pass through the North American ‘Grand Slam’, losing to Ukrainian Daria Snigur in three ‘sets’, by the partitions of 6-2, 0-6 and 6-4, in the first round of the hard floor tournament, played on August 30.
“Throughout my career, the idea of cheating has never once crossed my mind because it is totally against all the values I was raised to respect”responded to the former world number one on social networks.
— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) October 21, 2022
Halep, who has won two majors during his career (Roland Garros in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019), recently announced his intention to give up the rest of the season to recover from a nose surgery performed to improve the breathing process.
The investigative process is now the responsibility of the tennis authorities, but any decision is subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD) by both the athlete and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“I will fight to the end to prove that I have never knowingly used a banned substance and I am sure that sooner or later the truth will be revealed”Halep warned.
Source: DN
