Simona Halep may be suspended but the Romanian is still practicing and seemingly hoping for a change of events that would allow her to return to pro tennis. Halep, 32, hasn’t played since the 2022 US Open. Just days after this year’s US Open, the ITIA announced that the independent tribunal handed Halep a four-year ban after they found the former world No 1 guilty of committing two anti-doping violations. However, Halep has maintained her innocence and also revealed her intention to take her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). At the start of this week, two-time Grand Slam champion Halep posted a video of her on the practice court.
Meanwhile, Simona Halep keeps practicing hoping for a possible comeback
(š„ @Simona_Halep) pic.twitter.com/lvRh3zY7OM
ā We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) October 23, 2023
Halep didn’t accept the independent tribunal ruling
Throughout the entire process, Halep has been insisting that she is “a clean athlete” and someone who would never intentionally take a banned substance. For months, Halep was trying to take her case to the independent tribunal because she believed there she would clean her name. After the independent tribunal’s ruling, Halep didn’t accept it and said she was “both shocked and disappointed.” “My representatives and I presented the ITIA and the tribunal with compelling evidence in support of my defense, including multiple legitimate questions regarding the conclusions reached around my Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) testing. While I am grateful to finally have an outcome following numerous unfounded delays and a feeling of living in purgatory for over a year, I am both shocked and disappointed by their decision. I believe in a clean sport and in almost two decades as a professional tennis player, through hundreds of tournaments and two Grand Slam titles, I have taken 200 blood and urine tests to check for prohibited substances ā all of which have been clean, until August 29, 2022,” Halep said in a statement after she was given a four-year ban from the sport. Halep’s last hope is that taking her case to the CAS can help her clean her name.