Simona Halep forced out of the 2023 French Open after IATA’s latest decision in her doping case
Former champion Simona Halep may have to miss the Roland Garros 2023 for not being exonerated before the start of the Major on clay.
Simona Halep (Image Credit: Tennis World)
The fate is not on Simona Halep‘s side. Since, being suspended from professional tennis competitions after being tested positive for doping last year. The unwanted substances such as Roxadustat was found in her body.
Simona Halep has continuously denied any wrongdoing. But since then, she is fighting hard to get herself acquitted and return soon on the courts. She had hoped to make her comeback on the tour at the French Open. However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (IATA) has decided to postpone her hearing for April 30 from April 28.
This would mean that she may have to miss the Roland Garros 2023 main draw entry. The Tennis Letter shared an excerpt of Simona Halep’s father statement on social media.
“Halep’s doping hearing has been pushed back again. She will miss Roland Garros Simona’s father: We still don’t know anything. We don’t know what’s happening. The deadline was initially set for the 28th, but it was postponed to 30th. When you’re innocent, you fight tooth & nail,” the caption read.
However, there is still hope for Simona Halep to play in the French Open as she can earn a wildcard entry into the qualifying draw if she is found not guilty of doping.
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Simona Halep can make a grand return to sport
The Romanian have had to face some tough time in last few months. She was suspended after her urine sample tested positive for banned substance Roxadustat at the US Open. Since then it has been an uphill battle for Simona Halep to prove herself innocent.
She has found support from WTA Chief Steve Simon, former American tennis legend Chris Evert and her former coach Darren Cahill. Also, her family members have always been behind her. Also, there are some doubts over the test samples which flagged her using the banned substance.
According to reports, the source of the medication has been discovered by the Laboratoire Antidopage Francais (LADF), who were hired by the 2019 Wimbledon champion to examine her urine samples. According to LADF, Roxadustat was not disclosed as an ingredient on the label of the oral supplements Halep used.
It presented a new difficulty for WADA because the nutritional supplement’s ingredients were not detected by their techniques for identifying forbidden goods. Samples collected before and after Halep’s US Open round 1 match, with the exception of the one sample that detected the presence of the prohibited drug, came back negative. This strengthens Simona Halep’s case.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)