Halep was banned for four years for doping
In an announcement on her personal page immediately after receiving the sentence, Halep announced that she would appeal. "Last year was the most difficult of my career, unfortunately my fight must continue. I value tennis and have never knowingly used banned substances," Halep wrote.
According to Tennis Channel, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on September 12 accepted Halep's argument about using supplements with the banned ingredient Roxadustat, but said that the amount absorbed through food is not may have led to the high concentrations found in her sample at the 2022 US Open.
Roxadustat is a substance used legally to treat anemia, but is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list because it increases hemoglobin and red blood cell production, improving oxygenation in the blood of athlete. A biological passport system that monitors athletes' blood indicators over a long period of time will identify abnormalities that may indicate doping.
In Halep's case, the Court agreed with the accusations from a panel of three athletes' biological passport management experts after this team analyzed another 51 of Halep's blood samples. They all believe that Halep's record is abnormal with doping and that the Romanian tennis player is responsible for the test results.
A four-year ban will likely end the top career of Halep, who is about to turn 32. This is the heaviest ban in tennis since the case of Maria Sharapova. "Russian Doll" was banned from competing for 15 months after testing positive for meldonium in 2016.
Halep became world number one in 2017 and was still in the top 10 when attending the US Open last year. She won the Grand Slam twice, at Roland Garros 2018 and Wimbledon 2019, for a total of 24 career titles. At Wimbledon 2019, Halep defeated Serena Williams in the final, preventing the American senior from reaching a record of 24 Grand Slams.
After Halep received a four-year ban, Serena Williams wrote on social network X insinuating: "8 is better." Up to now, no tennis player has sided with Halep after the doping scandal. The prominent person who defended the former world number one was her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, when he said that his student was not the type to cheat in sports.
