Naomi Osaka’s former coach Wim Fissette blasts IATA for ‘shameful’ act in Simona Halep doping case

Former coach hits out at WTA for the long delay in the doping case verdict.

Naomi Osaka’s former coach Wim Fissette blasts IATA for ‘shameful’ act in Simona Halep doping case

Wim Fissette and Simona Halep (Via IMAGO)

Former coach of players including Japanese star Naomi Osaka, Wim Fissette slams IATA (The International Tennis Integrity Agency) for the long delay in giving a verdict on Simona Halep’s doping case. For the uninitiated, the Romanian former World No.1 player has been suspended by the ITIA for failing the drug test during the US Open 2022 and the verdict is still pending.

Now, Wim Fissette has said about the long delay and how it is going to affect the career of a top player like Simona Halep. According to him, this long delay is not helping any, and with each passing day, the road for a comeback by the Romanian star is shrinking with age.

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As Wim said, “I 100% believe in her not being guilty of taking something she shouldn’t take. She’s been waiting already a very long time to hear what’s gonna happen to her. She’s been really good for women’s tennis. I hope to see her back very soon.” Wim Basette has the experience of coaching top players like Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, Angie Kerber, as well as Simona Halep.

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Simona Halep is waiting for the verdict for more than a year now

Simona Halep caught for doping
Simona Halep caught for doping (credits: Twitter, WTA)

The former World No.1 was shocked when she was caught in the drug test. She responded to it with a social media post back in October 2022, “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.”

2-time grand slam champion Simona Halep was ranked world No.1 for a total of 64 weeks between 2017 and 2019. Her Major triumphs were at the French Open 2018 and Wimbledon 2019 when she defeated American world No.50, Sloane Stephens, in the final, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1, and 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams 6-2,6-2 respectively.

She also reached the Australian Open final in 2018 when she lost to Danish Former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki 7-6(2), 3-6,6-4. Her best performance in the US Open was a semi-final appearance in 2015. Her Wimbledon triumph in 2019 over Serena Williams was one of the finest-ever performances by a women’s singles champion when she hit just 3 unforced errors throughout the match to stop Serena from equalling the record of most grand slams ever won by a tennis player (24 by Margeret Court).

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