Former French Open and Wimbledon champion Simona Halep took to social media on Friday to describe her provisional suspension because of doping as the “biggest shock” of her life.
Halep, a former world No.1, was suspended for testing positive for the banned substance Roxadustat, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Friday. Halep was tested during the US Open in August and both her A and B samples have confirmed the presence of the drug.
Halep’s doping ban is the first high-profile case since Maria Sharapova was handed a two-year ban for doping in 2016.
“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 ITIA said in its statement.
“The sample was split into A and B samples and the subsequent analysis found that the A sample contained FG4592 (Roxadustat), which is a prohibited substance listed in the 2022 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List,” the statement added.
Halep reacted with an emotional message that the idea of cheating never crossed her mind and she would prove her innocence soon.
“Today is the hardest match of my life: a fight for the truth. I have been notified that I have tested positive for a substance called Roxadustat in 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. I will fight till the end to prove that I never knowingly took any prohibited substance and I have faith that sooner or later, the truth will come out.
Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed.
“It’s not about the titles or the money. It’s about honor, and the love story I have developed with the game of tennis over the last 25 years.