Former No.1 Simona Halep provisionally suspended for a positive test at US Open

Simona Halep, Former world No. 1, has been provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITTA) after testing positive for a banned substance at this year’s US Open.

Halep, according to a Friday statement from the ITTA, provided a sample that contained Roxadustat. The substance is listed in the 2022 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Halep addressed the suspension Friday with her own statement.

“Today begins the hardest match of my life” a fight for truth,” she wrote. “I have been notified that I have tested positive for a substance called Roxadustat in an extremely low quantity.”

The 31-year-old called the news “the biggest shock of [her] life,” adding that she never once considered cheating because of her values.