Women’s tennis star Simona Halep suspended for failing a doping test

Simona Halep (Robbie Saurus, Wikimedia Commons)

Romanian tennis star Simona Halep of Constanta, Romania has been suspended indefinitely for failing a doping test according to Callie Lawson-Freeman of Yahoo! Sports on Friday. Halep reportedly tested positive for the drug Roxadustat while participating at the 2022 United States Open.

Halep was reportedly surprised to hear that she had a positive test. At the 2022 United States Open, Halep lost her first round singles match to Daria Snigur of Ukraine, 6-2, 0-6, 6-4. Halep had entered the tournament as the seventh seed.

Halep was ranked number one in the world from October 9, 2017 to January 28, 2018. She was ranked number one in the world again from February 26, 2018 to January 27, 2019. When Halep was ranked first in the world the first time in 2017, she was the 25th player all-time to be ranked world number one.

A two-time grand slam champion, Halep first won the the 2018 French Open. She beat Sloane Stephens of the United States in the final, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Halep then won Wimbledon in 2019. There she beat Serena Williams of the United States, 6-2, 6-2.

Halep made tennis headlines earlier this year when she hired Patrick Mouratoglu as her full-time coach. The Frenchman of Greek descent had previously coached Serena Williams from 2012 to 2022. During that time, Williams won 10 grand slam singles titles.

The news about Halep’s suspension comes one day after DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals returned from his six game suspension in the National Football League for taking a banned substance. On Thursday evening, Hopkins had 10 catches for 103 yards as the Cardinals defeated the New Orleans Saints by a score of 42-34.

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