Simona Halep

Simona Halep is a Romanian professional tennis player whose successful career was overshadowed by a doping ban in 2023.

Simona Halep was born on September 27, 1991, in Constanta, Romania, to parents Stere and Tania Halep. The Romanian started playing tennis at the age of four, as her father was interested in supporting her career financially after his previous lack of success in the world of sports.

Competing on the ITF Junior Circuit, Halep enjoyed a lot of success, even rising to the world no. 1 spot. She reached the semifinals of the 2008 Australian Open Girls' Singles competition, and soon after that, she won the 2008 Roland Garros Girl's Singles.

From there, the Romanian's career progressed as expected. She made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2010, playing at the Andalucia Tennis Experience. Halep managed to finish her first season as world no. 81 and progressed in the following years to finish as no. 53 and no. 47.

And then came the 2013 season, which marked a major breakthrough for Halep. She won the Qatar Open, and also the WTA Elite Trophy, and her semifinal showing at the Italian Open helped her to finish the season as world no. 11.

For a very long time, that would be the last season that she finished outside of the Top 10, or Top 5 of the WTA Rankings, as she entered the tennis elite and finished every season between 2014 and 2020 in the Top 5.

After playing in the Roland Garros finals in 2014 and 2017 and one Australian Open final in 2018, Halep finally won her first Grand Slam title at the 2018 French Open, and she followed up on the triumph with the 2019 Wimbledon trophy.

But after many successful seasons, a major U-turn came in Halep's career in 2022. In October 2022, she was provisionally suspended after having a positive test for the banned substance Roxadustat.

It came as a surprise to many because of multiple reasons. Halep was the WTA Most Popular Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015, and she was also voted the WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Halep fought throughout the 2023 season to clear her name, but the fight ended in September 2023, when the ITIA officially suspended Halep for four years for anti-doping violations.