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Simona Halep's ex-coach Darren Cahill, who is currently serving as one of Jannik Sinner's coaches, has endorsed a scathing review of the International Tennis Integrity Agency's (ITIA) decision to ban Halep.
The Romanian was provisionally suspended in Oct. 2022 after she tested positive for the banned substance roxadustat during that year's US Open. After further investigation into the matter, Halep was given a four-year ban. However, the former WTA World No. 1 took her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Following Halep's hearing at the CAS earlier this year, her ban was reduced to nine months. Since she had already served the length of the revised ban, the 32-year-old was cleared to return to tennis.
Halep made her return to the court at the ongoing Miami Open, where she lost a three-setter in the first round to Paula Badosa. Recently, Howard Jacobs, an athletes' lawyer who served as Halep's attorney, slammed The Times and one of its journalists for criticizing CAS' decision.
According to the lawyer, the journalist, David Walsh, did not go through the decision thoroughly prior to passing judgment in his piece titled 'Why return of Halep gives me little confidence in fight against doping'.
Darren Cahill, who spent six years as Halep's coach and spearheaded her ascension to the top of women's tennis and Grand Slam glory, endorsed Jacobs' review. Cahill urged tennis bodies to improve their work to avoid a repeat of what Halep had to endure.
"It’s time for the false accusations and false narratives to stop. The tennis bodies need to do better. That is the 4 majors, @atptour & @WTA who fund this organization as they waste $ millions of tennis player money," Cahill wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Simona Halep recently hit back at Caroline Wozniacki over her comments on the Romanian's Miami Open return
Caroline Wozniacki stirred up controversy at the Miami Open after she said that players who have been found guilty of doping should not be given wildcard entries into tournaments. The Dane said that it would be more appropriate for such players to work their way to the top from the bottom.
Halep was asked about Wozniacki's comments during a press conference. The Romanian maintained a defensive stance, claiming she had not cheated.
However, recently, the two-time Grand Slam champion took a swipe at Wozniacki during an interview in Romanian. She said that Wozniacki should go through CAS' decision thoroughly and if she fails to understand, it should be translated for her.
"I didn't even think about that subject anymore and I can only repeat that she should read the decision better and if she doesn't understand, someone translate her," Simona Halep said.
Halep's swipe at Wozniacki was not received well by a section of tennis fans, who labeled the Romanian arrogant for her words.
