“They kept it secret,” Simona Halep continues to rant against ITIA’s ‘weird’ verdicts on Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner’s doping cases
Simona Halep doesn't find any logic behind ITIA's judgment as she compared her doping case to that of Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek.
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Jannik Sinner, Simona Halep, Iga Swiatek (Images via X)
Simona Halep missed months on the sidelines because of suspension and returned to court at the Miami Open in March this year. In March only, World No.1 Jannik Sinner failed two drug tests but the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) kept it a secret from everyone until August, when they released the report which caused quite a stir in the tennis world.
Halep tested positive for roxadustat at the 2022 US Open and the ITIA imposed a four-year ban on her. The ban was reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after Halep’s appeal.
The Romanian, like many, just couldn’t understand why Sinner and Swiatek were allowed to play and had to deal with mild punishment. Halep said she ‘lost’ her ‘sleep’ once again after thinking about how she was treated because, for her, the entire thing is ‘big pain, big pain’. She questioned why these two players were allowed to play when she wasn’t.
What I believe is not fair, either, is that they announced my case straight away, and I got all the heat from the press, and for these two players they kept it secret and they just said about the case when everything was done, so it’s very weird.
Simona Halep said during an interview with Telegraph Sport
Both Sinner and Swiatek successfully found the source of the banned substances and immediately appealed but the ITIA back then couldn’t locate roxadustat in Keto MCT that she had been taking and the case took time to resolve.
Simona Halep questioned why Iga Swiatek’s one-month ban
Simona Halep was shocked upon learning about Iga Swiatek‘s case. Swiatek tested positive for trimetazidine in August and faced a three-week suspension, missing three tournaments (Korea Open, China Open, and Wuhan Open).
She came back to play at the WTA Finals and the Billie Jean King Cup after which the ITIA made her case public, stating that Swiatek was given a one-month ban. Simona Halep, without naming anyone asked the logic behind the verdict.
The woman player – I don’t want to give her name, you know about who I’m talking about – she had the three-week suspension, then she played two events, and then she got again suspension. What is this? I mean, I don’t understand. So I feel it is not fair.
Simona Halep told Telegraph Sport
Swiatek has already served her one-month ban and won’t be facing any interruptions in the next season. Because she missed three months of tennis, she was dethroned from the top of the rankings by Aryna Sabalenka who also had successful campaigns in North American and Asian hard-court tournaments.
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Gouri Das
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