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Simona Halep (Wikimedia Commons)
The United States Tennis Association announced that former World No. 1 Simona Halep was withdrawn from the 2023 US Open field because of a provisional doping suspension.
Her spot in the major’s main draw was given to American Taylor Townsend.
At last year’s US Open, Halep tested positive for the banned substance, Roxadustat — a drug that has been approved for medical use in Europe to treat symptoms of anemia caused by chronic kidney failure — after falling as the No. 7 seed in the first round to Ukraine’s Daria Snigur.
A byproduct of Roxadustat is that it helps the body create more erythropoietin (EPO), which is a natural hormone that is also a doping product more prevalent in the cycling and running communities.
She was then accused of a second doping offense by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in May for what was described as irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport, which keeps track of substances in an athlete’s body to help keep track of potential instances of doping.
“I have lived the worst nightmare I have ever gone through in my life,” a statement from Halep read back in May. “Not only has name been soiled in the worst possible way, but I am facing a constant determination from the ITIA for a reason that I cannot understand, to prove my guilt while I haven’t ever even through of taking any illicit substance.”
Halep claimed that three “world-renowned experts,” tested her blood and that the results came back “totally normal.”
“I feel helpless facing such harassment and a motivation on their behalf to prove me guilty of something I never did,” Halep continued. “Once again, all my life I have been totally against any sort of cheating. It doesn’t alight with my values.”
The 31-year-old Romanian reached women’s tennis’ No. 1 ranking in…
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