On October 21, 2022 he marked the principle of the end to Simona Halep. The International Tennis Integrity Agency revealed that the Romanian tennis player had positive An anti -doping control. The substance of the Poémica: Roxadustat. After a trial in between and failed efforts to return to the circuit, Halep announced this week his definitive retirement, after the loud defeat against Lucia Bronzetti in the first round of the WTA 250 of Cluj-Napoc, in his country.
“I don’t know if it’s sadness or joy (I think I feel both) But my soul is at peace with this decisionand I have always been realistic with myself. My body can no longer drive as much as I used to do it to take me where I was probably once, ”said Halep who said goodbye to his audience.
“It is very difficult to reach that level, and I know what is needed to get there,” said Halep. “That’s why I wanted to be here today, in Cluj, to play in front of you and say goodbye to the tennis court, although my performance does not It was the best, ”the Romanian tennis player spread excitedly.
Halep became at the top of female tennis: he was number one in the world for 64 weeks and conquered two Grand Slam, Roland Garros 2018 and Wimbledon trophies in 2019. However, his reign was interrupted by the unstoppable rise of figures as The Australian Ashleigh Barty and the Polish Iga Świątekand the appearance of the Roxadustat trail.
This substance was approved for use in the European Union In 2021 to treat anemia caused by chronic renal failure. Its function is to stimulate the body to achieve greater production of the erythropoietin natural hormone, or EPO, essential for the formation of red globules.
For being a powerful stimulator, The use of Roxadustat is prohibited in sport. At first, Halep was sanctioned with a four -year suspension, which would have expired in 2026. But he appealed, and the sports arbitration court reduced the penalty to nine months in March 2024.
At that time, Halep argued that he was exposed to a contaminated supplement that caused its positive result. The TAS determined that Halep did not exercise “enough care” when using the supplement, but “did not have a significant guilt or negligence.” Therefore, according to the TAS, “his violations of the anti -doping rules were not intentional” and agreed to lower the sanction considerably.
After 17 months of inactivity, from the beginning of the process in October 2022 to the last resolution of the TAS in March 2024, the response of his body was not expected. The tennis player who returned everything and knew how to put in the strings large like Serena Williams, began to suffer increasingly frequent injuries. Its ranking collapsed until the 870s, partly because of the pressure of the judicial litigation that consumed it.
His return occurred in March 2024 in the Miami Masters, where he lost in the first round with the Spanish Paula Badosa. Since then, he has barely played a total of six games. The duel against Bronzetti at the WTA 250 of Cluj-Napoc was the first of the year for Halep, which received a special invitation to play in Romania.
At the end of last year, the Romanian expressed indignation against the different management given to doping cases of the world number one, Jannik Sinner, and number two, IgA Swiatek, which received minimal sanctions, compared to the his. “I feel and try to understand, but it is really impossible for me to understand something like that,” the 33 -year -old tennis player had published on her Instagram account.
Halep retires from tennis with 24 individual titles and more than 40 million dollars in prizes. He could shine until the Roxadustat was present. “I don’t want to cry – this is something beautiful. I became the number 1 in the world, I won Grand Slams. It’s all that I always wanted, ”said the Romanian.
With agency information