The Romanian Simona Halep, former world tennis number 1, has been provisionally suspended for doping after testing positive for Roxadustat, a banned substance: this was announced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
The sample from Halep, 31, taken at the US Open in late August, showed traces of Roxadustat, a drug that stimulates red blood cell production and is used to treat patients with kidney problems, the ITIA said in a statement. .
Halep's reaction was immediate and she said she was ready to "fight to the end" to prove that she had not knowingly taken the banned substance.
The Romanian player, current number 9 in the world, spoke to her social network about her, calling the positive test "the biggest shock of my life".
"Throughout my career, the idea of cheating has never crossed my mind, because it is totally against all the values I was raised with," she wrote.
"I will fight to the end to prove that I have never knowingly taken a banned substance and I am sure that, sooner or later, the truth will come out."
At the end of August, the winner of Roland-Garros 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019 was eliminated in the first round of the US Open by Ukrainian Daria Snigur.
On September 15, after a nose operation, she announced on Twitter that her season was over and she would not play until 2023.