Simona Halep vows to clear her name following drug punishment

Paris — After being provisionally suspended for doping, former world number one Simona Halep stated on Friday that she will “fight until the end” to prove she did not intentionally ingest a banned drug.

Halep’s August US Open sample had levels of Roxadustat, a medicine that increases the production of red blood cells and is used to treat patients with renal disease, according to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).

The Romanian tweeted, “Throughout my whole career, the thought of cheating never once crossed my mind, as it goes against every virtue I was taught.”

“I will battle until the bitter end to establish that I have never knowingly ingested a controlled chemical, and I have trust that the truth will emerge sooner or later.”

AFP