Simona Halep to appeal after being hit with four-year ban for doping violations

Former World No 1 Simona Halep has been banned from tennis until 2026 for two separate anti-doping rule violations.

The 31-year-old Romanian former Wimbledon and French Open champion has been provisionally suspended since October 2022 after testing positive for banned blood-booster roxadustat at the US Open last year.

She was subsequently charged with irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) and both charges have been upheld following an independent tribunal.

"The first [charge] related to an Adverse Analytical Finding for the prohibited substance roxadustat at the US Open in 2022, carried out through regular urine testing during competition," the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said in a statement.

Halep has strongly denied knowingly taking the banned substance and said she had evidence to show that small amounts of the anaemia drug entered her system from a licensed supplement that was contaminated.

"The tribunal accepted Halep's argument that they had taken a contaminated supplement, but determined the volume the player ingested could not have resulted in the concentration of roxadustat found in the positive sample," the ITIA added.

The second charge related to irregularities in Halep's Athlete Biological Passport.

Simona Halep has been handed a 4-year suspension & can return to competition on October 7 2026.

According to a release from ITIA, 3 independent Athlete Passport Management Unit experts found “likely doping” was the explanation for irregularities in Halep’s biological passport. pic.twitter.com/U2lHO2rtTl

It said the ABP charge was also upheld as three independent experts were unanimous that "likely doping" was the explanation for the irregularities in Halep's profile.

Halep