US OPEN
Tennis star Simona Halep responds after failing drugs test at US Open
On Friday the news broke that the two-time grand slam event champion had failed a doping test.
Romanian tennis star Simona Halep has failed a doping test at the US Open. The story broke on Friday that the former number one women’s player had tested positive for the anti-anaemia drug Roxadustat.
What has Halep said about doping fail?
The current number nine in the world is the first major star to fail a test since Maria Sharapova in 2016. Currently we have been made aware that she has been provisionally suspended.
On the back of the news Halep made a statement:
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 the money. It’s about honor, and the love story I have developed with the game of tennis over the last 25 years.
More on this here: Halep tests positive for doping; What is roxadustat and what’s it used for?