Simona Halep suspended after positive doping test

Former World number 1 Simona Halep has been provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency after she failed a doping test.

The test took place at last month’s US Open, where she tested positive for the anti-anaemia drug Roxadustat.

Roxadustat is a drug approved for medical use in the European Union to treat the symptoms of anemia caused by chronic kidney failure.

According to the EU’s medicines agency, which approved Roxadustat last year, it stimulates the body to produce more of the natural hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, which has long been a doping product favoured by cyclists and distance runners.

The ITIA announced the suspension Friday for Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion who is currently No. 9 in the WTA rankings.

During a provisional suspension, a tennis player is ineligible to compete in, or attend, any sanctioned events.

Halep, who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon the following year, is the highest-profile tennis player to fail a drugs test since Maria Sharapova six years ago. 

Halep, a 31-year-old from Romania, recently announced she was taking the rest of this season off after having nose surgery to improve her breathing.

In a statement on her social media channels, Halep wrote: “Today begins the hardest match of my life: a fight for the truth.

“I have been notified that I have tested positive for a substance called Roxadustat in an extremely low quantity, which came as the biggest shock of my life.

“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. I will fight until the end to prove that I never knowingly took any prohibited substance and I have faith that, sooner or later, the truth will come out.

“It’s not about the titles or money. It’s about honour, and the love story I have developed with the game of tennis over the last 25 years.”