HALEP TESTS POSITIVE
Former world no.1 Simona Halep has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance at the US Open
Shock reverberated through the tennis world on Friday as it was revealed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that Simona Halep tested positive for the prohibited substance Roxadustat at this year’s US Open.
The former world no.1 and two-time major winner released a statement soon afterwards where she promised to “fight until the end to prove that I never knowingly took any prohibited substance…”
“Throughout my whole career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind once, as it is totally against all the values I have been educated with. Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed,” the world no.9 added.
At the grand slam in August, A and B samples from the 31-year-old were found to contain Roxadustat (FG-4592), which features on the World Anti-Doping Authority’s list of prohibited substances under the category of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF) Activating Agents.
According to the US Anti-Doping Agency, while Roxadustat has legitimate use for patients with anaemia, “athletes can use [products like it] to increase their red blood cell count, which is a very effective doping technique that increases the delivery of oxygen to working muscles to increase endurance performance.”
While this provisional suspension rules the Romanian out of action for the foreseeable future, Halep had already decided to cut her campaign short in September so she could deal with exhaustion and undergo nose surgery.
As a former world no.1 with 24 career titles and prize money of more than $40 million, Halep is the highest profile tennis player to test positive for a banned substance since Maria Sharapova in 2016.
Shortly after the news, I reported on the story for RTÉ 2FM’s Game On which you can hear below:
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