Simona Halep’s positive doping finding surprised the tennis world. The Romanian star admitted that he was devastated by the accusations and immediately found support, according to many he is one of the most honest players on the circuit. Maria Sharapova’s fans, on the other hand, point to a double standard, in 2016, a wave of immediate condemnation arose against the Russian player.
Roxadustat. Words that woke Simona Halep from sleep. During the recent US Open, this drug was found in the blood of the former world number one which contains a banned substance with similar effects to EPO, a hormone especially popular among rogue endurance athletes.
Roxadustat is used to treat anemia caused by chronic kidney disease by stimulating the production of hemoglobin and red blood cells.
“Throughout my career, I never even thought about how you can cheat, it would be completely against the principles in which I was raised. In front of these injustices, I feel completely confused and deceived,” said the thirty-one year . -former holder of two Grand Slam titles. He faces a four-year ban.
Halepova intends to defend her honor until the last breath. According to him, an “extremely low amount” of the banned substance was found in his blood sample.
“It is not about titles or money. It is a matter of honor and love for the game that I have built over the last twenty-five years. This is the biggest shock of my life,” he added.
In the meantime, the emotional description of his strong character built on honor and a sense of fair play is directed to the public space from those around the famous tennis player.
Renowned trainer Darren Cahill, with whom Halepova worked for six years, recalled how the Romanian wanted to check every dietary supplement she used twice or rather three times.
“Unless you are absolutely sure that it is clean, I will not take it,” he used to say.
“We believed in the anti-doping program, he underwent all the tests without reservation. His integrity is impeccable. The possibility that Simona would deliberately take any prohibited substance is absolutely zero,” said the Australian.
He described his former charge as incapable of lying. “Honesty has always been her greatest strength and at the same time her greatest weakness. We often laughed at how she can’t fake anything or tell even a little lie. This is Simona. She has built an amazing career by always doing that’s right. thing,” Cahill said.
Romanian billionaire Toni Iuruc also offered a similar image of the tennis player, even though his marriage with Halep lasted only a year from last September.
“I swear that this girl, my ex-wife, is obsessed with one thing – honesty. You can take anything from Simona, but if you take away her honor, her justice, you will kill her. She will not one more person.” The Romanian billionaire entrusted the media, adding: “Something Simona would not do, even if you wanted to cut his hand.”
Iuruc said Halep refused even a bottle of water if someone other than herself opened it, and she didn’t even swallow vitamin C unless a doctor approved it.
“It must be some kind of mistake. Simona is a woman who grew up with morality and a duty to the truth. She has principles that she would not give up for anything in the world,” he pointed out.
Even many neutral tennis personalities, such as legendary doubles player Rennae Stubbsová or former number one Kim Clijstersová, do not believe in his guilt.
“It’s not fair, but you will win this fight,” French Alize Cornet supports his opponent.
Halep was offered immediate help by the players’ organization PTPA, founded by Novak Djokovic. “We will fight for his rights and strive to promote fairness and transparency for all players,” the statement read.
Until now, the biggest tennis star to be punished for doping was five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova.
In 2016, at the Australian Open, the Russian tested positive for Meldonium, which he took for a long time and which was included on the list of prohibited substances only immediately before the incriminating season. His initial two-year sentence was later reduced to 15 months.
And it is in the former Russian superstar’s fan camp that there is irritation at the kind of support Halepova is receiving even before the latest doping case broke.
“The Russian tennis player received practically no confidence at the time and was ostracized by the tennis community,” wrote the Sportskeeda website, referring to the Twitter posts of Sharapova’s supporters.
“Sharapova was defamed, bullied, ridiculed. Many cheap articles were written, but Simona is not responsible? It’s hypocritical,” the portal quoted one of the reactions.
“It’s easier to trash someone you don’t like. People want to give Halep the benefit of the doubt they never wanted to give Sharapova,” read another echo.
Six and a half years ago, the famous Russian player immediately admitted his guilt at a press conference in Los Angeles. He had been using Meldonium for the previous ten years to prevent diabetes, which was prevalent in his family. Sharapova defended herself by saying that she ignored emails informing about the inclusion of the substance among those banned.