Renowned journalist fires shots against Sorana Cirstea for calling Serena Williams ‘arrogant’ amid the Simona Halep doping case

Halep will not be able to play professional tennis again until 6 October 2026.

Renowned journalist fires shots against Sorana Cirstea for calling Serena Williams ‘arrogant’ amid the Simona Halep doping case

Sorana Cirstea, Simona Halep and Serena Williams (Credits WTA, USTA)

After delays in the announcement of the verdict, two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep suffered a big setback as she was banned for four years for two breaches of anti-doping rules, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced a few days back. According to the independent tribunal, the 31-year-old Romanian committed intentional anti-doping rule violations under Article 2 of the TADP. The ITIA’s tribunal heard from Halep and her expert scientific witnesses but concluded that the player committed both offenses.

The verdict evoked a wide variety of responses from the wider tennis community. Some players came out in support of Halep and called the 4-year suspension harsh. On the other hand, 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams shared a post on social media taking an apparent dig at the Romanian player. The post captioned, “8 is a better number,” caught the attention of eagle-eyed fans on social media. The post was apparently referring to the final of Wimbledon 2019 played between the pair. Halep denied Serena a chance of winning her 8th Major on the grass courts of Wimbledon. Praising her opponent during the trophy ceremony, Williams said that Halep played “out of her mind”.

YouTube video

The post didn’t go well with Halep’s Romanian counterpart Sorana Cirstea. Cirstea defended her colleague, saying that she believed in the two-time Grand Slam champion’s innocence. Taking a shot at Serena, she further said that while Serena Williams was a champion player on the court, the American always had that arrogance as a person. Cirstea also claimed that Williams was not a gracious loser in an interview with Sports Romania.

Jumping into the drama, renowned journalist Matt Dowell took a swipe at Cirstea for apparently deflecting from the issue.“Wild to me that people have been more up in arms over Serena’s tweet than they have been over Halep’s actual drug suspension, especially after all the info released last week,” Dowell wrote on X.

https://twitter.com/MattDowellTV/status/1704310338286449044

He further went on to question Cirstea’s boldness in taking on the American, mentioning her dismal head-to-head record against the former World No.1. “It’s also bold to say this about Serena when Cirstea won a total of 7 games in 3 matches against her,” he wrote.

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Sorana Cirstea backs Simona Halep’s claims of innocence

Halep issued a strongly worded statement reiterating her innocence and vowed to challenge the verdict. Sharing a post on ‘X’, she said, “I have devoted my life to the beautiful game of tennis. I take the rules that govern our sport very seriously and take pride in the fact I have never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance. I refused to accept their decision of a four-year ban.”

Sorana Cirstea (Credits: USTA)

Halep’s Romanian compatriot Sorana Cirstea has backed her claim of innocence. The Romanian said that she knows Halep really well and can guarantee that she would not have consciously doped. Cirstea also revealed how a situation like this is a nightmare for any athlete. “I was afraid to take anything, I was afraid to take an aspirin. I’m maybe a little paranoid, but it’s no joke. It’s every athlete’s nightmare,” she added.

Cirstea last made an appearance at the recently concluded US Open where she reached the Quarter Final. She defeated World No.5 Elena Rybakina in a close 3-setter in the third round. She followed it up with an impressive straight-set win against Belinda Bencic in the fourth round. Next up, she is scheduled to play in the Ningbo Open and is seeded third in the tournament. She plays American Claire Liu in her opening match at the tournament.

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