The former world’s number one in tennis, the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, has her professional sports rights suspended because of a positive doping test for the banned substance “Roxadustat”.
The ITF Disciplinary Committee announced that the two-time Grand Slam champion had tested positive at the US Open in September, with both “A” and “B” samples confirming the presence of the substance.
“Simona Halep, a 31-year-old Romanian tennis player, has been suspended for anti-doping violations. After testing her “A” and “B” samples, the presence of FG-4592 (Roxadustat), which is on the banned list for 2022 year of the World Anti-Doping Agency”, said the ITF in a statement.
“Roxadustat” is an anti-anemia drug and is an inhibitor that increases the endogenous production of erythropoietin and stimulates the production of hemoglobin and red blood cells.
The Romanian tennis player said she was shocked by the news.
“Today begins 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 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. Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed”, says the official statement of Simona Halep. “I will fight until he end to prove that I never knowingly took any prohibited substance and I have faith that sooner or later, the truth will come out. 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”, added she.
She has a total of 24 WTA Tour titles, two of them this season in Melbourne and Toronto, and is currently ranked ninth in the world. Simona Halep is now recovering from nose surgery, which she underwent in mid-September just after the US Open, due to breathing difficulties.
