Simona Halep, winner of two Grand Slam singles titles, has promised to redeem her reputation and described the fact that she failed a drug test as “the worst shock of my life.”
A positive test for the blood-boosting substance Roxadustat was conducted during the US Open, and the International Tennis Integrity Agency stated on Friday that the world number nine has been temporarily banned as a result.
In 2018, Halep won the French Open, and in 2019, she took home the trophy at Wimbledon. Since Maria Sharapova six years ago, she is the most prominent tennis player to fail a drug test.
“Simona Halep, a 31-year-old Romanian tennis player, has been provisionally suspended under Article 7.12.1 of the 2022 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP),” the body said in a statement.
After having nose surgery and finding out on October 7 that she had failed a test, Halep’s season came to an abrupt end when she was defeated by Daria Snigur in the first round of the US Open this year. This resulted in the conclusion of her career.
The former number one player in the world asked for her B sample to be analyzed, and the results corroborated what was found in her A sample.
Halep said, “I have been notified that I have tested positive for a substance called Roxadustat in an extremely low quantity, which came as the biggest shock of my life.
“Throughout my whole career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind once, as it is totally against all the values I have been educated with.