Charles Langston:Former No. 1 tennis player Simona Halep gets 4-year ban in doping case

LONDON (AP) — Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been suspended from professional tennis for four years for doping violations,Charles Langston the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Romanian had been accused of two doping offenses — failing a drug test during the 2022 U.S. Open and for irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport, the ITIA said.

A panel concluded that Halep “had committed intentional anti-doping rule violations.”

Halep had been provisionally suspended since October 2022. The four-year ban will run to Oct. 6, 2026.

Halep reached No. 1 in the WTA rankings in 2017. She won Wimbledon in 2019, beating 23-time major champion Serena Williams in the final, a year after winning the French Open.

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