Former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been provisionally suspended from tennis after failing a doping check.
The Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company introduced on Friday that Halep examined optimistic for Roxadustat on the US Open.
Roxadustat is an anti-anaemia drug that may enhance the manufacturing of pink blood cells and due to this fact assist with endurance.
‘’Simona Halep, a 31-year-old Romanian tennis participant, has been provisionally suspended beneath Article 7.12.1 of the 2022 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP),’’ the ITIA introduced.
Following the announcement, Halep took to social media to protest her innocence. The 31-year-old acknowledged that she by no means ‘knowingly’ consumed any prohibited substances and promised to ‘combat for the reality’.
‘’As we speak begins the toughest match of my life: a combat for the reality,’’ Halep wrote.
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‘’I’ve been notified that I’ve examined optimistic for a substance known as Roxadustat in a particularly low amount, which got here as the most important shock of my life.
“All through my entire profession, the thought of dishonest by no means even crossed my thoughts as soon as, as it’s completely towards all of the values I’ve been educated with.
“Dealing with such an unfair state of affairs, I really feel fully confused and betrayed. I’ll combat till the top to show that I by no means knowingly took any prohibited substance and I’ve religion that, in the end, the reality will come out.
“It’s not concerning the titles or cash. It’s about honour, and the love story I’ve developed with the sport of tennis over the past 25 years.’’
Halep, presently ranked ninth on the planet, is the highest-profile tennis participant to fail a medication check since Maria Sharapova in 2016.
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