Anti-doping ban could spell the ‘end of my career’, says Simona Halep

Simona Halep believes that a four-year ban from tennis as a result of breaching anti-doping rules could ‘end’ her career.

The former world No. 1 was provisionally suspended in October 2022 after testing positive for Roxadustat at that year’s edition of the US Open.

Fast forward to September and the Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that Halep had been banned from tennis for four years, meaning the Romanian would be 35 when the ban is lifted in October 2026.

When asked whether the ban could spell the end of her career during an interview with Euronews, the two-time Grand Slam champion said: ‘’I think so, yeah, because four years is going to be a lot, for my age at least.

“And for an athlete who has done this thing every day for 25 years and dedicated their life to tennis and to sport, I don't know how it's going to be, but it's catastrophic if it's going to be four years, and I don't know how I will handle it.

“Probably, it's going to be the end of my career, yes. And for something that I didn't do and that is not my fault, it's even more catastrophic.’’

Halep is currently awaiting an appeal to the ban and continues to maintain her innocence, stating the failed test was a result of ‘contamination’.

‘’It's very clear that it was a contamination. Three days before the positive urine test, I was negative in blood and urine," she said.

“So, I've been told at the beginning that it's an extremely low quantity of this substance, banned substance, and in those three days I could not have doped.

“It was not my intention and never has been the intention to do something wrong or something disrespectful to this sport, because I have respected everything and I dedicated my life.

“My principles are not like this, so I didn't think to cheat in tennis.

“And the second one, the blood, I had many, many tests and all of them were negative. So, they never found anything wrong in my blood. So, with these two things, I feel confident going and facing CAS.

‘’This is my dream. I know there are not big chances for this, but I'm dreaming of this because Paris is my dream city.

"I won Roland-Garros here when I was a junior, so everything started very early, and it will be amazing to be back on court, no matter what.

"But I just want to be on court because that's where I belong and I feel like I want to do it again.’’