Canada's Eugenie Bouchard stirred up controversy by posting a cryptic but sly tweet on X that is seemingly directed at Romanian star Simona Halep.
On Tuesday, the tennis world was treated to the bombshell news that Halep, a former No. 1, was judged to have intentionally committed breaches of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme and will serve an eyebrow-raising four-year suspension.
Bouchard is synonymous with her strong disapproval of players judged to have breached any anti-doping regulations. Earlier this year, she posted an unprovoked tweet aimed at Dayana Yastremska after defeating the Ukranian at the WTA 1000 event in Madrid (before she deleted it after receiving mixed reactions).
The tweet read: "There's something about playing dopers in Madrid," revisiting Yastremska's past for violating anti-doping regulations. The tweet also took aim at Maria Sharapova, whom Bouchard defeated at the same event back in 2017, shortly after the Russian returned from a 15-month suspension for testing positive for meldonium.
Halep's breaches in question include the presence of roxadustat in her urine sample taken during the 2022 US Open and irregularities in her biological passport which the Athlete Passport Management Units linked to doping.
Halep was provisionally suspended since last October and presented her arguments in a London court at the end of June. Her verdict took months before judgment was served, and it was not welcome news at all. This obviously throws a spanner in the works and leaves Halep's career in limbo.
The two-time major champion took the news with a pinch of salt and released a lengthy statement to dispute the result of her case. She said she was going to appeal the decision and exhaust all available legal remedies.
The 31-year-old becomes the first high-profile tennis player to be suspended from the WTA Tour due to doping since Maria Sharapova suffered a similar fate in 2016, albeit for a shorter period in comparison. And that's probably also why Bouchard made the decision to tweet: "I was told not to tweet today."
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