Former No. 1-ranked player Simona Halep has been provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency after failing a drug test during the US Open.
The ITIA announced the suspension for Romania’s Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion who is currently No. 9 in the WTA rankings, on Friday, saying she tested positive for the banned substance roxadustat.
In a tweet, Halep said she was „confused and betrayed” by the situation and would start a „fight for the truth” regarding her failed test.
„I will fight until the end to prove that I never knowingly took any prohibited substance and I have faith that sooner or later, the truth will come out,” she wrote.
— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) October 21, 2022
The 31-year-old Romanian player recently announced she was taking the rest of the season off after having nose surgery to improve her breathing.
She lost to Daria Snigur of Ukraine 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 at the US Open on Aug. 30.
Roxadustat is a banned substance listed in the 2022 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
Roxadustat is an oral medicine used to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease.
It is the first in a new class of medicines called HIF-PH inhibitors (prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor,) that promotes erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production, through improved iron absorption and mobilization, increased endogenous production of erythropoietin, and downregulation of hepcidin
