Simona Halep is having a rough end to the year following a temporary suspension from tennis, but there is a slim chance that the Romanian will compete in the first Grand Slam of 2023.

Australian Open 2023 – Simona Halep, absent from the list of participants

Simona Halep’s lawyers are trying to lift the ban indefinitely – What are her chances of playing at the Australian Open

In November, Simona Halep was badly shaken by a positive anti-doping test at the US Open 2022, after which she was found to have the substance Roxadustat.

A Romanian judge from TAS tells how the banned substance ended up in the body of Simona Halep

Since then, Simona, together with her lawyers, has been trying to prove that this substance entered her body unintentionally, with the idea of ​​canceling the temporary suspension from tennis for 4 years.

According to ProSport, Simona’s lawyers are making significant efforts to overturn the indefinite suspension, based on the fact that “the case of innocence is an invincible argument.”

In a situation in which the Romanian-French lawyers succeed in their goal, Simona Halep could receive one of the 7 wild cards for the first Grand Slam tournament of 2023, the Australian Open.

This is also the reason why Simo continued to train with a sparring partner sent by Patrick Muratoglu from his academy.

According to a ProSport report, Halep identified the problem as unlabeled roxadustat in a tainted supplement she took from a French lab.

While this news is encouraging to Simona Halep fans, the evidence needed to overturn the ban will likely have to include documents, lab results and testimony.

3 reasons why Simona wins the case in a doping situation

1. Roxadustat has a short-term effect, and according to Dr. Chris Ming, half of a dose of Roxadustat is usually eliminated from a person’s body within 10 hours of administration, or within 15 hours in patients with kidney disease.

Halep failed a test immediately after her first-round match at the US Open, and apparently only traces of roxadustat (a low dose) were found in her urine samples.

2. Athletes who test positive for banned substances often do so with drugs that correct a deficiency rather than enhance what is already a strength.

In 2013, Marin Cilic tested positive for the stimulant Niketamide, which improves concentration but not strength, which the Croatian already has in abundance. Maria Sharpova’s banned drug meldonium improves physical activity, but does not improve concentration.

Fernando Verdasco, who suffers from ADHD, recently forgot to get relief from his prescribed methylphenidate.

This is not surprising since ADHD can make people forgetful. Here’s the thing: Athletes are looking to improve what they need, not what they already have.

In Halep’s favor, the two-time Grand Slam champion is already known for her resilience. According to Min, Roxadustat increases red blood cell production, which may help Halep last longer than her opponents — but it’s already her trademark on the regimen.

3. Ming notes that in the United States, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Joint Advisory Committee decided 13 to 1 not to recommend approval of Roxadustat in July 2021. The drug has been approved in other countries, including China, Japan and Korea.

In fact, in August 2021, the European Union approved Roxadustat under the trade name Evrenzo for use in Europe to treat kidney disease. Thus, the legal use of the drug in France certainly does not undermine Halep’s claim that the contaminated substance came from a French laboratory.

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