Simona Halep was once again quick to express her total innocence after a provisional doping suspension from late last year.
The Romanian has had a decorated career consisting of winning two major titles, the first coming at Roland Garros in 2018 and the second at Wimbledon the following season. On top of that, the Romanian became the World No.1 in 2017, and had very much been a mainstay in the top ten for seven long years.
However, since then, it has been a considerable fall from grace for Halep, who was notified of a positive test in October 2022 for a banned substance Roxadustat, and has been unable to compete for the past year.
Halep is renowned for her fighting qualities on court, but now she faces one of her biggest fights off it. Halep was both defiant and adamant about her innocence in a recent interview with Eurosport:
"I read all their messages and felt their heartfelt (support) and assure them of my innocence."
In addition to the initial positive test, it was also revealed of a secondary doping charge for irregularities to her biological passport. Halep talked about her frustration of the delays to the entire process to this point, but stays firm on her stance:
"I didn't take absolutely anything...I did nothing dishonest in tennis. I hope there comes a day when I return to the court and play the tennis I've played all my life with a lot of pleasure and passion."
Lastly, there was a brief discussion of confusion when Halep's name was featured on the initial US Open entry list. However, moments before the beginning of the qualification rounds her name was soon removed, and now it remains a guessing game when the Romanian will be back on a tennis court, or even if she will be back on a tennis court.
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