Just a week ago, Simona Halep announced that if the 4-year suspension for doping remains in force, she is considering retiring from tennis. In an exclusive interview for the French press (parismatch.com), the former WTA leader changed her language, admitting that she is ready to return to the court at any cost, regardless of age.

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Know

• If the 4-year disqualification is also supported by TAS, then the former WTA leader can theoretically return to the tennis court on October 6, 2026. Halep would have turned 35 at that time.

• It will be recalled that Simona Halep said that she stopped cooperation with Patrik Muratoglu’s team.

Simona Halep says she wants to return to the court regardless of the age at which it happens

In an interview with Euronews a week ago, Simona said she was seriously considering retiring from tennis if her TAS appeal did not result in her 4-year doping sentence being reduced.

Things have changed again in recent days, and Halep told parismatch.com that she dreams of getting back on court regardless of age.

“I prefer not to consider the worst case scenario. That would be a disaster. Moreover, if the sanction remains in force, I cannot know what will happen in three years, how my body will change.

I dream of returning, regardless of age.

One thing is for sure, I choose how to end my career and I don’t want it to end anywhere but on the field.

I think that given the work I’ve put in all these years, I deserve it.” – Simona Halepfor Paris Match, Digisport quotes.

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What you need to know about Simona Halep’s doping case

• The news that Simona Halep was temporarily suspended for doping appeared on Friday, October 21, 2022.

• Simona’s case was heard by Sport Resolutions, an independent tribunal in London that hears doping cases in white sport.

• Halep was suspended for 4 years for two separate violations of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP): the presence and use of the substance roxadustat in a urine sample collected after an anti-doping test conducted at the 2022 US Open (1) and a violation of her biological passport (2).

• Simone has only one appeal: the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

• According to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on its official website, Halep will be heard by CAS on February 7-9, 2024.

• The Swiss court said that the ex-leader of the WTA asked to cancel the decision of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and “reduce” its sanctions.

• If the 4-year disqualification remains in force, then the ex-WTA leader can theoretically return to the tennis court on October 6, 2026. Halep will be 35 years old at that time.

• On August 29, 2022, Simona Halep played her last official match on the world circuit. At the US Open, in the inaugural round, our athlete unexpectedly defeated Daria Snigur (at that time, 124th place in the WTA, based on the qualification).

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