“Simona should slap him…”- Patrick Mouratoglou is marked ‘culprit’ as fans lean in Simona Halep’s support after her historic legal battle comes to an end

PTPA executive director not happy despite Simona Halep reduced suspension


“Simona should slap him…”- Patrick Mouratoglou is marked ‘culprit’ as fans lean in Simona Halep’s support after her historic legal battle comes to an end

Mouratoglou and Halep

Patrick Mouratoglou is involved yet in another controversy, and this time it is regarding Simona Halep’s doping debacle. The renowned coach is facing heat from tennis fans on social media despite a reduced sentence in Halep’s doping case. The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) recently reduced Halep’s suspension from four years to nine months, to great relief for Halep’s well-wishers and the Romanian tennis icon herself.

In context, Mouratoglou was hired by the 32-year-old player in April 2022. She was then provisionally suspended after traces of Roxadustat were found in her system during the 2022 US Open. After months of deliberation, she was handed a four-year ban from the court.

In her struggle over a long-drawn plea for justice, Halep pleaded her innocence, stating that she had not intentionally taken the prohibited substance. Mouratoglou then admitted he gave the supplement to Halep, but didn’t face any punishment. However, despite the CAS now unanimously reducing the ban from four years to nine months, tennis fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) want the renowned coach to be sued.

FS Video
Ok, legally, justice was done, but now comes the moral part, I think Mouratoglou should take the blame! However, Simona was found doped, the reduction of the sentence does not exclude the fact that she was found positive. Doped, not because of her, but because of the staff! 
remarked a fan

Simona Halep has already announced that she is eager to return to the court. Meanwhile, the Romanian Grand Slam winner is yet to reveal if she will take any actions against Mouratoglou, who is now Holger Rune’s coach.

PTPA executive director says Simona Halep didn’t really win

Ahmad Nassar, the Executive Director of Novak Djokovic’s Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), recently said that Simona Halep didn’t win her appeal, even after a reduced ban by CAS.

Amid the celebration, Nassar took to social media asserting that Halep was hard done by in her doping case and that she has lost nearly one and a half years of her career.

Simona Halep
Simona Halep (via IMAGO)
First and foremost, we are glad Simona finally cleared her name. But refrain from calling it a “win.” Nobody really won here. She doesn’t get the last 1.5 years back. She doesn’t get rankings points and prize money back. And, the kicker, CAS ruled that Simona’s suspension ended last July… anyone has a time machine?? This has to change. And we will work to change it
Nassar wrote on X

Understandably, the PTPA champions the cause of tennis players, making sure their rights are sustained and Halep’s victory in this regard remains one of the greatest achievements in the sport. It is undoubtedly a big win despite the myriad of challenges that the Romanian WTA icon faced and now she is all geared up to get back to the court again.

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