Simona Halep admits she is feeling “huge stress” over the doping ban as the former world No 1 never thought she would find herself in such a situation.
In October, the ITIA provisionally suspended Halep after she tested positive for anti-anaemia drug Roxadustat.
Halep has been adamant from Day 1 that she is innocent and she has been fighting ever since to clear her name.
“I donāt really know how I am because the situation has been really hard. Emotionally, itās heavy. The stress is huge because I never thought I would face something like this. I have always been against doping, as I am a big supporter of clean sports. So at the beginning, I didnāt know how to handle it. Over time I just tried to stay calm and actually, I feel confident because I know Iām clean and I didnāt take anything knowingly that is banned. I mean: a bad substance. It makes me feel a little bit better but Iām trying to handle it as much as possible,” Halep told Tennis Majors.
Halep just wants to present her case
According to Halep, a group of experts found out how the banned substance got into her body and it was determined that she didn’t knowingly take the prohibited substance.
“After a lot of work, they found out that there was a contamination, a supplement contamination, and thatās why the quantity was so so low in my body. A contamination is when someone takes an authorised supplement, but the company who sells it makes a mistake, and thereās a very low quantity of substance that should not be in there. The experts have worked a lot to find the reason of this contamination and they found out that the supplement was contaminated with a very low quantity of substance,” Halep said.
Halep said she sent the evidence to ITF, who denied it.
Also, Halep confirmed her hearing had been already delayed multiple times.
“Itās been seven months since Iāve been originally suspended even though Iāve had all the evidence since December. Iām not asking for special treatment. I just ask to be judged. How much longer is this going to take?” Halep asked.