Simona Halep is withdrawn from the US Open at the deadline amid doping suspension
Simona Halep is withdrawn from the US Open on deadline due to doping suspension
Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep was withdrawn from the US Open later this month.
Halep, 31, was provisionally entered in the Grand Slam amid her suspension, but was automatically removed from the entry list on Monday’s deadline.
The American Taylor Townsend replaces the Romanian in the main draw for Flushing Meadows.
Halep has been provisionally suspended since October 2022 after testing positive for the banned blood booster roxadustat at the US Open last year.
She received a second anti-doping charge in May and has since fallen out of the WTA’s top 1000 list.
Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep has withdrawn from the US Open
Halep has strongly denied knowingly taking the banned substance and has said she has evidence to show that small amounts of the anemia drug entered her system from a licensed supplement that was contaminated.
Halep has said she sent evidence of the contamination to the International Tennis Federation in December and hoped her case would be heard by an independent tribunal in February, but it was postponed and a new March date was also postponed.
More to follow.