Tennis: Doping, invitation… tennis not punitive enough?
Published on March 24, 2024 at 6:50 a.m.
Holder of a Master’s degree in sports journalism, I fell in love with tennis since childhood and have always loved reading the great stories of this sport. Today, I want to tell them about them, take full advantage of my passion and be as close as possible to the aces of the circuit.
In recent months, the world of tennis has been affected by a fairly serious doping case which concerned one of the greatest champions in recent history. Simona Halep recently saw her suspension reduced since she managed to convince the court that she was contaminated by a doping product, she who has always denied having cheated since this news at the end of 2022. Just after the announcement of her return, the Romanian was invited to Miami, something that didn’t please some people very much…
Former world number 1, Simona Halep has had a wonderful career since she also managed to win Roland-Garros et Wimbledon. The 32-year-old Romanian can return to the game since her suspension was lifted a few weeks ago when she could have not resumed. James Blakethe tournament director of Miamijumped at the opportunity to offer her an invitation which she of course accepted.
“If you want to come back, you have to start from the very bottom”
Not classified in WTA since she had not played since her defeat in the first round of theUS Open in 2022, Simona Halep received an invitation to participate in the WTA 1000 of Miami. The Romanian fell with honors against Paula Badosa by producing interesting tennis, even if she obviously lost the rhythm. But this scenario does not please everyone… “It is not directly against Simona but if someone cheats on purpose, someone who has tested positive for doping… I understand that the tournaments want big names but according to my convictions I don’t think we should give these people a wild card. If you want to come back, you have to start from the very bottom” analyzes the Dane Caroline Wozniackialso a former number 1.
Halep responds
We can imagine that the situation of Simona Halep is difficult to manage, that’s for sure. The Romanian therefore responded to the words of the one who had beaten her in the final of theAustralian Open in 2018. “Why did she say that? I did not do anything wrong. I didn’t cheat. You must read the CAS decision carefully, it was a contaminated food supplement, I did not doped. One person’s negative comment doesn’t matter because hundreds of people have shown me love, I’m going to leave it at that,” she says. Obviously, the atmosphere is tense…
The Sharapova case which returns
In 2016, when Maria Sharapova had also been suspended for doping, she was able to return to the competition thanks to wild cards, which Simona Halep will try to do. But at the time, the Romanian said it was a problem to be able to access these opportunities after experiencing a suspension. The question now is whether Roland-Garros will want to make a gesture for his former champion. Maria Sharapovashe had not been so lucky.
2024-03-24 05:50:00
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