LONDON — Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been suspended from skilled tennis for 4 years for doping violations, the International Tennis Integrity Agency stated Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Romanian “committed intentional anti-doping rule violations ” by failing a drug check through the 2022 U.S. Open and for irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport, the ITIA stated.

Halep, who plans to enchantment the ruling, had been provisionally suspended since October 2022. The four-year ban will run till Oct. 6, 2026.

Halep reached No. 1 within the WTA rankings in 2017. She received Wimbledon in 2019, beating 23-time main champion Serena Williams within the remaining, a 12 months after successful the French Open.

Halep, who had blamed contaminated dietary dietary supplements, plans to enchantment to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“I am continuing to train and do everything in my power to clear my name of these false allegations and return to the court,” Halep stated in a press release.

She stated she additionally will “pursue all legal remedies against the supplement company in question.”

The ITIA‘s tribunal heard from Halep and her knowledgeable scientific witnesses however concluded that the participant dedicated each offenses.

“The tribunal accepted Halep’s argument that they had taken a contaminated supplement, but determined the volume the player ingested could not have resulted in the concentration of Roxadustat found in the positive sample,” the ITIA stated.

Roxadustat, in keeping with the European Union’s medicines company, stimulates the physique to provide extra of the pure hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, which has lengthy been a doping product favored by cyclists and distance runners.

Halep’s organic passport profile had been examined by an knowledgeable panel. Such passports present a baseline studying of gear in an athlete’s physique and are thought of a manner to assist chart doping.

The tribunal reported that “likely doping” was the reason for the irregularities in Halep’s profile.

Halep is essentially the most distinguished tennis participant to obtain a ban since five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova examined optimistic for a newly banned substance on the 2016 Australian Open. Sharapova appealed her two-year suspension to CAS, which lowered the penalty, ruling she bore “less than significant fault” within the case and couldn't “be considered to be an intentional doper.”

In a press release on Tuesday, the WTA stated it's “of the utmost importance for players to be aware of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program rules and to follow them. … The WTA will support the decisions reached through the process and will continue to follow this closely.”

Halep, who might be 35 when her suspension ends, stated she had adjusted her dietary dietary supplements forward of the 2022 hardcourt season.

“I take the rules that govern our sport very seriously and take pride in the fact I have never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance,” she stated in her assertion. “I refused to accept their decision of a four-year ban.”

Halep had thought of retiring earlier in 2022 after a sequence of accidents, however then stated she felt rejuvenated after teaming up with coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who used to work with Williams.

Mouratoglou stated the ITIA has been “ totally unfair to Simona and it is totally unacceptable.” The system, he added, is “destroying careers of innocent players.”

Williams was searching for her eighth Wimbledon title when she misplaced 6-2, 6-2 to Halep on the All England Club in 2019. Without context and hours after Halep‘s ban was introduced, the American posted on X, previously often called Twitter: “ 8 is a better number.”

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