Former French Open champion Halep banned for four years for doping

Former French Open champion Simona Halep vowed on Wednesday to clear her name after she was suspended from competitive tennis for four years for doping violations.

Simona Halep won her first Grand Slam crown on the clay courts at the 2018 French Open. She would also triumph on the grass at Wimbledon just over a year later. AFP

Halep, who has been provisionally suspended since October 2022, was found guilty of twice breaking tennis anti-doping programme (TADP) rules. She will not be able to compete professionaly before 6 October 2026. 

The Romanian's first offence emerged during the 2022 US Open when the prohibited substance roxadustat was  found during in-competition urine testing.

The second charge related to irregularities in Halep’s athlete biological passport (ABP) – a monitor of substances in a person's body over a period of time that indirectly reveal the effects of doping,    

“I am continuing to train and do everything in my power to clear my name of these false allegations and return to the court,” Halep said in a statement.

Halep, who had blamed contaminated nutritional supplements, said she would lodge an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

She said she also would pursue all legal remedies against the supplement company in question.

“I take the rules that govern our sport very seriously and take pride in the fact I have never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance,” Halep said.

The 31-year-old added: “I refused to accept their decision of a four-year ban.”

Shock

Tennis authorities started the crackdown on the Romanian when roxadustat showed up in a test on 29 August following her shock first round defeat to the Ukrainian Daria Snigur.

Roxadustat, according to the European Union's medicines agency, stimulates the body to produce more of the natural hormone erythropoietin – EPO – which has long been the preferred doping product of cyclists and distance runners because it helps their endurance.

“The tribunal accepted Halep’s argument that they had taken a contaminated supplement but determined the volume the player ingested could not have resulted in the concentration of roxadustat found in the positive sample,” the International Tennis Integrity Agency (Itia).

After analysing Halep's ABP, an expert panel reported that likely doping was the explanation for the irregularities in Halep’s profile

Upholding the ABP charge, the Itia tribunal said it had no reason to doubt the unanimous strong opinion reached by each of the three independent experts on the Athlete Passport Management Unit.

Time

Itia boss Karen Moorhouse said: “After a complex and rigorous hearing process, we welcome the independent tribunal’s decision.  

“The volume of evidence for the tribunal to consider in both the roxadustat and ABP proceedings was substantial.       

“The Itia has followed the proper processes as we would with any other individual – in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code – fulfilling our purpose and responsibility to uphold the principle of fair competition, on behalf of the sport. The panel recognised that appropriate procedure had been followed within the written decision. "

Halep became the first woman from her country to reach the pinnacle of her sport when she topped the WTA rankings in October 2017. She remained in post for four months before Caroline Wozniacki dislodged her after winning the Australian Open.

Halep reclaimed top spot in February 2018 won underlined her authority with the 2018 French Open. Though Naomi Osaka replaced her after her win at the Australian Open in 2019, Halep went on to win Wimbledon in 2019.

“We do understand the significant public interest in these cases," Moorhouse added. "And we remain committed to being as transparent as possible and the full decision will be published in due course.”   

Halep is the most prominent tennis player to receive a ban since five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova tested positive for a newly banned substance at the 2016 Australian Open for the newly banned substance meldonium and was barred from the game for 15 months.

In a statement, the WTA said: “It is of the utmost importance for players to be aware of the TADP rules and to follow them.

"The WTA will support the decisions reached through the process and will continue to follow this closely.”