Chinese tennis star Wu Yibing on his journey to ATP Tour
A two-time Grand Slam winner and former world No 1 has seen her 2023 US Open campaign end before it has even started. Simona Halep was crowned Wimbledon champion in 2019 after defeating Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 but the Romanian has been dropped from the draw for this year’s American Grand Slam.
The 31-year-old’s exclusion is due to a provisional doping suspension. The US Tennis Association announced that Halep, who also won the French Open in 2018, “was automatically withdrawn” when the tournament’s qualifying draw was undertaken.
She has been replaced in the draw at Flushing Meadows by world No 134, America’s Taylor Townsend. Under association rules a player is ineligible to compete in or attend any sanctioned events during a provisional suspension.
According to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), Halep tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat at last year’s US Open. The drug is approved for medical use in the European Union for treating the symptoms of anaemia caused by chronic kidney failure.
As per the Associated Press, the EU’s medicine agency states that Roxadustat stimulates the body to produce the natural hormone erythropoietin (EPO), which is a doping product known to be favoured by cyclists and runners.
In May, the former world No 1 was accused of a second doping offence for irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport. According to tennisuptodate.com, Halep has claimed that she has taken 10 subsequent tests since her positive test, all of which returned negative.
At last year’s US Open the Romanian was seeded seventh but lost in the first round to the Ukraine’s Daria Snigur.
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Halep attempted to clear her name in February but a hearing was delayed several times. The tribunal has since taken place but the verdict has been delayed. After receiving her second charge in May, she released a furious statement, taking aim at the ITIA.
She said: “Since October 7, when I got charged by the ITIA for a suspicion of doping, I have lived the worst nightmare I have ever gone through in my life.
“Not only has my name been soiled in the worst possible way, but I am facing a constant determination from the ITIA for a reason that I cannot understand, to prove my guilt while I haven’t EVER even thought of taking any illicit substance.
“I feel helpless facing such harassment and a motivation on their behalf to prove me guilty of something I never did. Once again, all my life I have been totally against any sort of cheating. It doesn’t align with my values.”
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