Simona Halep, former Wimbledon and French Open champion, expressed her confidence in returning to tennis competitions soon as she exited the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday, following three days of hearings regarding her appeal against a doping suspension. Halep told reporters outside the sports court in Lausanne, "I had the opportunity to defend myself and I am very confident that the truth will come out soon."
The sports court began hearing the Romanian player's (32 years old) appeal against the doping suspension which could end her career last Wednesday. The International Tennis Integrity Agency suspended the athlete for four years in September due to two separate violations of anti-doping regulations. Halep, who was temporarily suspended in October 2022 after testing positive for the banned substance Roxadustat during the U.S. Open, stated that she would appeal the Integrity Agency's decision to the highest sports court.
Additionally, anti-doping authorities in tennis accused Halep of another violation last year due to irregularities in her biological passport, which is specifically designed to monitor various changes in blood analysis over time to detect potential doping. Halep has strongly denied these accusations.
Halep’s lawyer, Howard Jacobs, mentioned that the sports court listened to the Romanian player's arguments, but it remains unclear when a final decision in the case will be made. The former world number one blamed contaminated dietary supplements for her positive test at the U.S. Open. She also stated that the Integrity Agency charged her with violations in her biological passport after evaluators who assessed her profile learned her identity.
An independent court accepted Halep's argument that she took a contaminated supplement but determined that the amount she consumed could not have resulted in the concentration of Roxadustat found in her positive sample. Halep told Euronews last December that if the court rejected her appeal, she might have to retire, adding, "It’s a disaster if the suspension lasts four years. I don't know how I will handle it. It might be the end of my career."
