Simona Halep, the 32-year-old Romanian tennis star, is set to appeal her doping suspension, which could potentially spell the end of her illustrious career. The appeal will be heard by the top court in global sports.
Halep has been under provisional suspension since October 2022 following a positive test for roxadustat, a banned substance known to enhance red blood cell production, during the 2022 U.S. Open.
In addition to the roxadustat incident, tennis anti-doping authorities have also charged Halep with another doping offense. This charge stems from irregularities detected in her athlete biological passport (ABP), a monitoring method used to track various blood parameters over time, aimed at uncovering potential doping violations.
Halep has vigorously denied the charges.
The former world No. 1 has blamed contaminated licensed supplements for her positive test at the U.S. Open. She has accused the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) of charging her with an ABP violation after the group of experts who assessed her profile learned her identity.
An independent tribunal accepted Halep's argument that she had taken a contaminated supplement but determined the volume she ingested could not have resulted in the concentration of roxadustat found in her positive sample.
The hearings at the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) are expected to run until Friday. The court said it was unclear when a ruling might be rendered.
Halep will attend the hearing in person but will not make any statements until the proceedings end, CAS said.
Halep told Euronews in December that if the court dismisses her appeal, she could be compelled to retire.
"It's catastrophic if it's going to be four years," she said. "I don't know how I will handle it. Probably it will be the end of my career."
