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Now it's official: Simona Halep will have to a four-year ban. This is a hard blow for the career of the Romanian player, who at the age of 31 will not be able to take the field for another four seasons. There are two violations reported and punished by the TADP.
The first concerns the positivity to Roxadustat, a substance prohibited by the regulation, found at the end of his journey at the 2022 US Open. The second, however, is based on an irregularity in the athlete's biological passport.
X account @Brar_JSB reported in a post the words of Jelena Jankovic, former Serbian tennis player who attacked Halep with very harsh words. The X post report: "People refused to admit it but I always knew I was the rightful winner of Indian Wells 2015.
Simona's ban today proves it. Shoutout to my fans for keeping #JankovicWonIW15 relevant."
Obviously, @Brar_JBS on X post pokes fun at the situation. Jelena Jankovic would never have said anything like that, and the photo in post X dates back to an old interview from an event organized by Novak Djokovic.
However, this post can be considered, even if it makes fun of the situation, as a summary of what has been generated around Simona Halep. We have seen how many tennis players have sided with the Romanian, while others have sided against.
What is certainly true is that a tennis player, even if guilty, cannot wait a year to get a ruling on his future.
Jelena Jankovic on Simona Halep’s 4 year ban:
“People refused to admit it but I always knew I was the rightful winner of Indian Wells 2015.Simona’s ban today proves it. Shoutout to my fans for keeping #JankovicWonIW15 relevant” pic.twitter.com/wdxucunzKw — JB (@Brar_JSB) September 12, 2023
Simona Halep banned for four years
The independent tribunal, set up by Sport Resolutions, met on 28 and 29 June in London and heard medical expert witnesses on behalf of Halep and the ITIA; the tennis player herself testified before the jury.
Yesterday, the verdict came and Halep was punished for violating Article 2 of the TADP. The court accepted Halep's argument that she had taken a contaminated supplement, but ruled that the amount of substance ingested could not have determined the concentration of Roxadustat found in the positive sample.
The suspension will last from 7 October 2022 to 6 October 2026. International Tennis Integrity Agency explained in a statement: "The ITIA has followed due process as it would with any other individual - in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code - fulfilling the purpose and to the responsibility of upholding the principle of fair competition in the name of sport."