Simona Halep, Former Tennis No. 1, Suspended for Doping Violation

The two-time Grand Slam champ had previously announced that she was ending her season.
Simona Halep, Former Tennis No. 1, Suspended for Doping Violation
Simona Halep, Former Tennis No. 1, Suspended for Doping Violation /

Former tennis world No. 1 Simona Halep has been provisionally suspended after failing a drug test during the U.S. Open last month, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Friday

Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion and the current No. 9 player in the WTA rankings, tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat, according to the ITIA. 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 Associated Press.

Halep took to Twitter shortly after the announcement, saying that the positive test result “came as the biggest shock of my life.” She said that she would now begin “the hardest match of my life: a fight for the truth.”

“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,” Halep wrote. “Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed. 

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

The 31-year-old Romanian had announced just last month that she would not play for the remainder of the season after undergoing nose surgery to improve her breathing after she felt “completely exhausted” following her first-round match at the U.S. Open. Entering the year’s final Grand Slam as the No. 7 seed, Halep lost to Ukraine’s Daria Snigur 6–2, 0–6, 6–4 on Aug. 30.

During her suspension, Halep will be unable to compete in any sanctioned events. She will have an opportunity to appeal the ruling, but currently faces a ban of up to four years.

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Zach Koons
ZACH KOONS

Zach Koons is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about Formula One. He joined SI as a breaking/trending news writer in February 2022 before joining the programming team in 2023. Koons previously worked at The Spun and interned for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He currently hosts the "Bleav in Northwestern" podcast and received a bachelor's in journalism from Northwestern University.