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The news of Simona Halep being cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in her doping case had a mixed reception on social media on Tuesday (March 5).
Halep, a two-time Major winner, tested positive for the illegal substance Roxadustat in September 2022. The 32-year-old was served a four-year ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) the following year.
However, she appealed to the CAS to overturn her ban last year, blaming contaminated nutritional supplements. The Lausanne-based institution eventually reduced the former World No. 1's ban to nine months in their hearing (she has already spent more than nine months on the sidelines owing to the provisional ban in 2022), concluding in their statement that she "bore no significant fault or negligence".
The decision divided the tennis community on X (formerly Twitter). While some fans approved of the Romanian's imminent return to the WTA Tour, others were dismayed by the apparent lack of due diligence from the CAS in her doping case.
One fan, in particular, requested Simona Halep's former coach Patrick Mouratoglou's ban from the sport, since his team was responsible for giving her the supplement collagen, which had been contaminated with Roxadustat.
"Now ban Mouratoglou forever," a fan wrote.
Another fan, meanwhile, asserted that every player was essentially allowed to take performance-enhancing drugs in light of the Romanian's four-year ban being lifted.
"Tennis is a joke. At this point just let everybody dope because there’s no standards," they wrote.
Here are some more reactions from the tennis community on social media:
"The day to be on court is going to be soon" - Simona Halep on her doping case
Simona Halep, meanwhile, stated last month that she would return to professional tennis soon. Much to the tennis universe's surprise, the former World No. 1's claims turned out to be true a month later.
"I had the chance to show my defense, and I really believe that the truth is going to come out and the day to be on court is going to be soon," Halep had remarked in February this year (via ESPN).
Simona Halep is currently unranked on the WTA Tour, as her last tournament outing came at the 2022 US Open. The former French Open champion will have more than plausible chances of getting back into the top rungs of the sport, with the European claycourt season just around the corner.
Halep was one of the best players on the women's circuit before her ban. She won two Major titles, at 2018 Roland Garros and 2019 Wimbledon, and also secured nine WTA 1000 titles.
