Former number 1 tennis player Simona Halep has been provisionally suspended after a positive doping test.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced the suspension. The Romanian, who is currently ninth in the WTA rankings, gave a positive sample while attending the US Open in August 2022, according to the organization.

The 31-year-old herself was shocked by the allegations: "The toughest match of my life begins today: a fight for the truth," Halep wrote on the Internet on Instagram and Twitter. "I was informed that I had tested positive for a substance called roxadustat at an extremely low level, which was the biggest shock of my life."

"Never knowingly taken a prohibited substance".

In her entire career, "it never once occurred to her to cheat because it goes against all the values ​​that I was taught. In this unfair situation, I feel cheated and irritated at the same time," it continues. She will fight to the end to prove that she never knowingly used a banned substance. She is now "not about titles or money. It's about honor and the love for tennis that I have developed over the past 25 years," Halep continued.

According to the ITIA, the A sample contained a substance that is on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2022 Prohibited List. Halep had exercised her right to have the B sample analyzed. However, this confirmed the result of the A sample, explained the ITIA.

The Romanian recently announced that she will be sidelined for the remainder of this season after undergoing nose surgery to improve her breathing. The two-time Grand Slam winner, who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, is one of the most successful players in recent years.