Former world No. 1 Halep suspended after positive doping test

Former number one in the ranking of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), 31-year-old Romanian Simona Halep has been temporarily suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) due to a positive test.

A sample taken from a Romanian woman at the 2022 US Open in August contained the banned drug roxadastat.

– On October 7, 2022, the ITIA sent the player an advance notice of an anti-doping rule violation under Program Article 2.1 (Presence of a Prohibited Substance in Player’s Sample) and/or Article 2.2 (Use of a Prohibited Substance).

The player exercised her right to request a B sample analysis, which confirmed the results of the A sample. While suspended, the player is not eligible to participate in or attend any tennis events organized by the governing bodies of the sport, the ITIA said.

Halep is ranked ninth in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Simone won two Grand Slams in singles – the French Open – 2018 and Wimbledon – 2019. In total, she won 25 WTA tournaments (24 of them in singles). In total, Halep was at the top of the WTA rankings for 64 weeks.