Simona Halep
What could be more dreading for a tennis player than losing on the court? Simona Halep could answer that in a heartbeat, as the Romanian waged a long battle to clear the dark spot that threatened to mark her cherished journey in the tennis circuit, the mark of doping. No athlete wants to go through the pain of proving that they have been honest about their sport, but Halep had to bear the pain as she tested positive for roxadustat, a prohibited drug. Her ban was later reduced on appeal, but nothing could make up for the mental strain she suffered.
Simona Halep sat down with Craig Gabriel, to open up about her struggle to prove her innocence. When darkness approaches, not many people stand beside and support. It was no different for the Romanian tennis star. Praising her extraordinary battle against time, when Gabriel asked Halep how she got through it, she revealed her family was the only light in her darkness and not the people who stood beside her when she was at the top. During the testing times, she struggled alone.
“I know maybe it sounds like a cliché, but for me, it was the same when I was hearing people that when you struggle, people leave, and you have only the family and very close people. So, it happened the same.” – said Halep. However, this wasn’t the only aftermath of the ban. The seed of doubt, which was sown in the minds of the tennis community, also traveled into Halep’s subconscious mind. Despite doing everything right, the Romanian tennis star developed doubts as she resorted to isolating herself from everything.
Relying on her few close friends and family, who stayed beside her, she said, “I isolated a little bit myself. I felt safe only with my very close people, family, and some friends, and probably they helped me also. Tennis, during the years, helped me to understand that you have to be strong, and you have to wait for the next day and try to do the best.”
Two-time Grand Slam winner, who was strong enough to handle Serena Williams’s thunderous aces, struggled to stay strong throughout the doping saga. Narrating her ordeal, and how she tried to take everything in a positive stride, Halep said, “I tried to do my best to stay strong, going through what I went through with positive thinking.” But recurring delays didn’t make things easy for the player, and many times she came close to losing her hope. “I said I had hopes, even if I had many delays, the hopes were ruined, but I didn’t give up. I knew that I did nothing wrong. I think this helped me the most to stay there and to fight for it,” the 32-year-old further added.
The water might be under the bridge now and Halep is on her way to healing after a long battle that went on for over 18 months. But tennis fans are not ready to let go of it as the judgment of the case was not published to the people.
Simona Halep’s innocence judgment by CAS remains behind closed doors
In March 2024, the CAS awarded the judgment in the highly anticipated drug trial of the former World No.1. However, even after 4 months, tennis fans are looking for the verdict hence awarded, which proved the Romanian’s innocence. But to no avail, as one of the parties to the case objected to its public availability.
For Simona Halep, it was “the triumph of truth.” After more than a year of struggle, the lid on the scandal was closed for good. However, tennis fans were taken aback when the CAS stated that they would publish the verdict if no party objected. As it has not been published yet, the fans are of the view that the skeletons are being buried at the expense of the truth. However, Halep would want to sleep over it and wake up as if nothing ever happened. Her reputation took a hit and she can’t have her time back.
