CNN —
Former world No. 1 Simona Halep has been provisionally suspended from tennis after testing positive for a banned substance at this year’s US Open.
According to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), Halep has tested positive for roxadustat, a banned substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2022 banned list.
The two-time Grand Slam champion has denied knowingly ingesting the banned substance.
“Today the toughest match of my life begins: a fight for the truth,” said the 31-year-old a statement on social media Friday.
“I was told I had tested positive for a substance called Roxadustat at an extremely low level, which was the biggest shock of my life.
“Throughout my career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind as it goes against all the values I was raised with. Faced with such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed.
“I will fight to the end to prove that I have never knowingly taken a banned substance and I believe that sooner or later the truth will come out.”
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Halep was notified of the breach on October 7th and exercised his right to request analysis of the B sample, which confirmed the finding in the A sample.
According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), roxadustat belongs to a class of drugs called HIF-stabilizing agents.
“Athletes can use these products to increase their red blood cell count, which is a very effective doping technique that increases oxygen delivery to working muscles to increase endurance performance,” USADA said on its website.
The Romanian tennis player is not eligible to attend or compete in tennis events organized by the sport’s governing bodies while he is suspended.
“It’s not about the titles or the money. It’s about honor and the love story I’ve developed with the game of tennis over the past 25 years,” she added.
Halep almost retired in 2021 but said she fell in love with tennis again this year.
She was eliminated from the first round of that year’s US Open in August, losing in three sets to then world No. 124 Daria Snigur.
Halep won her first Grand Slam at the French Open in 2018 and her second at Wimbledon in 2019.