Simona Halep provisionally suspended after testing positive for banned substance
Simona Halep looks set to be suspended and provisionally banned for a month after testing positive for a banned substance.
The Romanian star’s agent has confirmed the result to RMC.
The 24-year-old is currently ranked 68th in the world as of the start of the US Open.
RMC has been told she will miss the Rome Masters after testing positive for a banned substance – but will keep her WTA ranking.
Earlier in June, Halep, who won the French Open in 2018, was provisionally suspended after testing positive to the anti-doping substance dapoxetine.
She had also been given a 90-day provisional period for the US Open after testing positive for the banned substance metenolone in March.
The Romanian’s results were also annulled after she tested positive for the stimulant JWH-018 in December.
Halep won her third Grand Slam title at last week’s tournament in London.
However, her long-term future in the game comes under a cloud after the International Tennis Federation opened disciplinary proceedings against her.
Halep was due to begin a two-year ban for her positive tests from the US Open, but now her ban could be up to five years. The sanction will apply to her ranking.
After the second positive in April, Halep was given a three-year ban for her second positive from the French Open in 2017, which she received at the U.S Open despite having been suspended from competition for two months after testing positive for the banned substance clozapine in 2016.
While Halep is likely to be given time to recover in what has been described by the ITF as a “prodigious effort to recover from these recent events,” it’s believed there is a chance of a five-year ban for the Romanian star.
She will be able to play in the French Open if her ban is not overriden