(Paris) Former world No.1 Simona Halep, suspended since last October after testing positive for roxadustat, a banned substance, explained Thursday in an interview with Tennis Majors that she had been the victim of “contamination from one of its dietary supplements.
Experts, commissioned by the 31-year-old player, “established that these traces were the result of contamination, contamination of one of my food supplements, which explains the very low quantity that was detected in my body” , Halep said.
The former Romanian world No.1, victorious at Roland-Garros in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, tested positive in August 2022 in New York for roxadustat, a prohibited substance classified as an EPO in the regulations of the World Anti-Doping Agency (AMA).
A few months later, she was suspended by the Tennis Anti-Doping Organization (ITIA) and faces up to four years of suspension.
“I have never, in conscience, consumed any prohibited product,” she answered when asked if she had taken roxadustat, a molecule that stimulates the production of red blood cells and is generally used in the treatment anemia related to kidney disease.
Halep is the first leading player caught in the anti-doping nets since the resounding suspension of Maria Sharapova in 2016. Tested positive for meldonium, the Russian star had finally received a fifteen-month suspension.
“I never thought I could find myself embroiled in something like this,” Halep continued Thursday, saying she felt “good” because “I know I’m clean.”
Regarding the expertise carried out, the Romanian adds that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has rejected her evidence. She asked “to be heard by an independent court”.
But several hearings have reportedly been pushed back or canceled by the ITF. A request to have his provisional suspension lifted was also denied.
If a new hearing could take place “on May 28”, Simona Halep expressed her impatience: “I am not asking for special treatment. I just want to be judged: how much longer do I have to wait? she asked.
During her provisional suspension, the Romanian cannot participate in any tournament. However, she said she still wants to play, and feels “as strong as before, if not stronger”.
