Simona Halep asserts handling of her provisional doping ban is "unfair"

Nearly seven months on after being provisionally suspended, two-time major winner Simona Halep is still waiting for the chance to clear her name at an independent tribunal hearing.

And if the Romanian’s fears are confirmed, another delay could be coming. On Thursday, Halep addressed where her case stands in a 70-second video clip filmed during an interview with Tennis Majors, revealing that roughly

“The next step is a hearing at the end of May, but it is very fragile because the ITF said that they might cancel it as well,” said Halep. “If they do that, it will be like almost eight months since I’ve been provisionally suspended for the first time and I believe that it’s not fair to spend eight months without even being judged by the tribunal.”

Regarding Halep's comments, the ITF issued this statement: “The ITF has had no involvement in the management of this case, as the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is managed and enforced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on behalf of the ATP, WTA, ITF and Grand Slams.”

The former world No. 1 tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat following her shocking first-round defeat to qualifier Daria Snigur at the US Open on August 29, 2022. She first learned of the doping result in a pre-charge notice on October 7 after earlier announcing the decision to end her 2022 season.

Halep shared with Tennis Majors that the experts she hired to assist with her case claim one of her “authorized” supplements was contaminated with a low dosage of Roxadustat. Halep stated she underwent 10 tests following the October notification. All 10, which involved blood and urine being taken at the same time, came back negative according to the 31-year-old.

“I have sent the evidence to the ITF and they deny it. I sent it in December when we worked on it,” she said.

“The ITF requested that the hearing on March 24th should be cancelled. I did not agree with that, because as the rule says, a player that is provisionally suspended is entitled to get an expedited hearing. Because everything takes so long, I asked the ITF to lift up my suspension to be able to play but they also refused it.”

The 2023 French Open will mark five years since Halep broke through for her first major trophy.