Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep handed 4-year ban for doping

Twice Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been banned for four years for two separate anti-doping rule violations, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Tuesday, September 12.

Twice Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been banned for four years for two separate anti-doping rule violations, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Tuesday, September 12.

The 31-year-old former Wimbledon and French Open champion was provisionally suspended since October 2022 after testing positive for banned blood-booster roxadustat at the US Open last year.

"The first (charge) related to an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for the prohibited substance roxadustat at the U.S. Open in 2022, carried out through regular urine testing during competition," the ITIA said in a statement.

Halep has strongly denied knowingly taking the banned substance and said she had evidence to show that small amounts of the anaemia drug entered her system from a licensed supplement that was contaminated.