Halep’s Suspension Reduced: Two-Time Grand Slam Champion Set to Return to Tennis Courts

Halep, the two-time Grand Slam tournament champion, can return to the tennis courts from Tuesday.

CAS announced that Halep’s appeal was upheld in part and her four-year ban was reduced to nine months.

Since the disqualification was valid from October 2022, it ended already last July.

The three judges ruled that Halep’s positive test resulted from the banned substance entering her body through “contaminated nutritional supplements”.

Halep has not played since the 2022 US Open, where she tested positive for doping.

It has already been reported that at the beginning of September 2023, the Tennis Integrity Agency (TIA) sentenced Halep to a four-year disqualification, because in 2022 roxadustat, which stimulates the production of red blood cells, was found in the tennis player’s body. On the other hand, in May of last year, inconsistencies were found in the athlete’s biological passport.

Halep blamed the supplements and said she would do everything in her power to get rid of the false accusations.

The term of disqualification applied to Halep, having suffered all this, would have been until October 6, 2026.

At the time of her suspension, Halep was ranked ninth in the world, but after not playing for more than a year, the 32-year-old Romanian has left the rankings.

From 2017 to 2019, Halep spent 64 weeks at the top of the ranking. During her career, she has won 24 WTA tournament titles, winning the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon a year later.