It is entirely possible that the doping sample of the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep was contaminated in the laboratory. This is the opinion of the former medical consultant of the tennis player Dana Safta, who was asked for an opinion on the subject by the Tennis World portal.
Simona Halep tested positive for the drug “Roxadustat” on August 29. In the form of medicine, “Roxadustat” acts against anemia and is an inhibitor that increases the endogenous production of erythropoietin and stimulates the production of hemoglobin and red blood cells.
According to Dana Safta, Simona Halep’s sample, given three days before the positive one, did not give such results. And such a short sequence, in the doctor’s opinion, means completely real contamination of the sample in laboratory conditions. Dana Safta believes that this drug could also have entered her body through food, either accidentally or intentionally.
Simona Halep is currently suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency since October 21. It is also noted that Halep requested to open the “B” sample of the test, which, however, confirmed the result of the “A” sample.
The 31-year-old Romanian tennis player has been one of the favorites in every tournament she has participated in in recent years. She has 24 WTA singles titles as well as one doubles title. He has won two Grand Slams – at Roland Garros 2018 and at Wimbledon 2019. In total, there are 64 weeks at the top of the WTA rankings.
