On Thursday, April 27, Halep came forward and claimed that her doping case trial was being pushed back unfairly by the authorities involved. Halep tested positive for a banned substance called Roxadustat in October after the 2022 US Open and the ITIA promptly issued a provisional suspension. However, almost seven months after the disclosure, the case still awaits a hearing

All this while, the two-time Grand Slam champion has maintained that she is not guilty. In her most recent interview, Simona Halep revealed that a “supplement contamination” was the cause of her positive test. She stated that the evidence was submitted to ITIA, but was rejected. The Romanian made a public plea for the hearing to go forward on the latest scheduled date, May 28.

“I’m not asking for special treatment. I just ask to be judged. How much longer is this going to take?” Simona Halep said.

Upon the shocking revelation, the PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association), co-founded by Novak Djokovic, showed their support with a statement on social media

One of the PTPA’s Principles is tennis players must have fair anti-doping rules and regulations, with full due process rights. That includes a timely review. We fully support players as they exercise their appeal rights & governing bodies must move with all deliberate speed to resolve cases. Athletes do not get time back even in a successful appeal,” the statement read.

However, Simona Halep’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou, like many others on social media, wasn’t impressed by the PTPA’s bare-minimum show of support and suggested that it was all talk and no action.

“It is great to have it in your rules, but how do you make them be applied by the anti-doping?” he questioned.

It is great to have it in your rules, but how do you make them be applied by the anti-doping ? twitter.com/ptpaplayers/st…

One of the PTPA’s Principles is tennis players must have fair anti-doping rules and regulations, with full due process rights. That includes a timely review.