"This is funny considering his silent ban" - Tennis fans react to Marin Cilic supporting Simona Halep amid Romanian's 4-year doping ban

Marin Cilic has extended his support to Simona Halep after she was handed a four-year ban from professional tennis for breaching anti-doping regulations.

Halep has been on a provisional suspension since the 2022 US Open, where her Roxadustat test came positive. Later in May 2023, she faced additional charges due to irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport.

As per the suspension by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the two-time Grand Slam champion will be ineligible to participate in professional tennis until October 6, 2026.

Showing his support, Cilic replied to Simona Halep's tweet and encouraged the Romanian to stay strong.

"Stay strong Simona, their ruling counts for nothing," Cilic replied.

Back in 2013, the Croatian had faced a doping-related suspension. Cilic was handed a nine-month ban by the ATP after testing positive for NIkethamide.

Cilic’s ban was then reduced to four months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which deemed it to be too harsh.

Tennis fans found Cilic's support for Simona comical and expressed their opinions on X (formerly Twitter).

“This is funny considering his silent ban,” one user wrote.

“It can be difficult to keep up with our supplements,” says Danielle Colins on Simona Halep’s 4-year ban

Danielle Collins recently shared her opinion on Simona Halep’s four-year suspension handed by the ITIA. The American praised the anti-doping agency for keeping the sport "clean”.

"You know, I think it's important that we have. You know, the anti-doping agency, and the different agencies that come to test us. And, you know, I appreciate everything that they're doing in trying to keep our sport clean," Danielle Collins said at the San Diego Open.

She further expressed the difficulty of keeping up with health supplements.

"It can be difficult to keep up with our supplements. But you know, that's the biggest problem we're facing as athletes," Collins added.

Meanwhile, Halep plans to appeal the ruling. Following the verdict, Halep shared a post on social media advocating her innocence.

“I believe in a clean sport and in almost two decades as a professional tennis player, through hundreds of tournaments and two Grand Slam titles, I have taken 200 blood and urine tests to check for prohibited substances - all of which have been clean, until August 29, 2022," Halep wrote.