The two-time Grand Slam winner, Simona Halep has been up against the wall since October 2022. Her last competitive match was in August last year at the US Open where she saw a surprise defeat to Ukraine’s Daria Snigur in the first round of the event. Talking about events, well, there has been a series of events in Halep’s life after that and her career is now under threat. How?
Recently, she gave an exclusive interview to ‘Paris Match’ where she shed light on the doping incident and proclaimed her innocence. What’s her version of facts and what does she look for in the future?
Simona Halep removes the curtain over the doping saga
The 32-year-old Romanian icon was provisionally suspended from all forms of competition in October 2022 after testing positive for a banned substance (Roxadustat). It is a substance that stimulates the production of hemoglobin and RBC in the blood to treat anemia related to chronic kidney diseases. Then a few months later, Halep was found guilty of a second separate offence by ITIA. It revealed she allegedly had irregularities in her biological passport.
Although Halep tried to prove her innocence several times, in September this year, she was handed a 4-year ban. Halep then appealed to the CAS against the ban. And, a few days back she got her hearing date, which will be in February next year.
Here’s what she said when asked about how all these happened. “My team recommended that I take a food supplement, collagen. I followed their advice and it turned out that the collagen was contaminated with roxadustat. The error comes from the laboratory whose food supplement was contaminated by a doping substance which had no reason to be there,” said Simona Halep.
However, a month back, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou (former coach of Serena Williams) took all the responsibilities of the ongoing doping saga. He admitted that his team had in fact provided the player with the allegedly contaminated collagen supplement. But Halep said her trust is now broken. She added it’ll be difficult for her to believe again in the judgment of her coaching team. What did she say about this?
Halep makes an admission over the ongoing incident
During the interview, the former number one was also asked if she had taken the collagen before. To this, Halep replied, “Never. It was the first time and I didn’t know the brand that was chosen by my team.” Now if the ban stands, she’ll be 35 years old when she’ll finally get the chance to play in competitive events. Will she be able to make a comeback at that age?
Well, the road will surely be difficult and even Halep knows that very well. But has she lost hope? Although she admitted that her career could possibly end if her appeal is unsuccessful. But, she isn’t ready to give up her hopes yet and is currently looking forward to the Paris Olympics in 2024.
