Now retired, is Simona Halep’s legacy tainted?
By Joey Dillon
The IX: Tennis Tuesday with Joey Dillon, Feb. 11, 2025
Howdy, y’all and Happy Tennis Tuesday! The WTA Tour has begun to do their Middle East swing with the Top 10 taking over Doha, Qatar. However, the big news of the week came early in Cluj Napoca, Romania, where former World No. 1 Simona Halep lost in her opening match at the Transylvania Open and then announced her retirement from professional tennis.
Continue reading with a subscription to The IX
Get unlimited access to our exclusive coverage of a varitety of women’s sports, including our premium newsletter by subscribing today!
Already a member?
Login
To be honest, it’s a sad end to a storied career for the Romanian. Throughout her career, she’s earned many accolades:
In 2022, Simona Halep’s career faced a major setback when she was handed a provisional suspension by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after testing positive for a banned substance. The substance in question was Roxadustat, a drug used to treat anemia, which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of prohibited substances. The news sent shockwaves through the tennis world, as Halep had long been regarded as one of the sport’s most respected and clean athletes.
The positive test came after Halep’s third-round match at the 2022 US Open. Upon being notified of the result, Halep publicly denied any intentional wrongdoing and maintained that she had never knowingly taken a banned substance. She expressed her shock and frustration over the situation, stating that she had always prided herself on playing clean and that the test result was a complete surprise. However, there was another critical aspect of the case that added complexity to the situation: Halep’s biological passport.
A biological passport is a tool used by anti-doping agencies to track an athlete’s blood and urine over time, looking for any irregularities that might indicate the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This system is designed to detect patterns that might suggest doping, even if an athlete hasn’t tested positive for a banned substance. In Halep’s case, the ITIA flagged not just the positive test for Roxadustat but also discrepancies in her biological passport, raising concerns about potential doping beyond the single test result.
The combination of the positive test and the abnormalities in her biological passport led to her suspension and the formal charge of violating anti-doping rules. Halep consistently denied any intentional wrongdoing and firmly maintained that she had never knowingly taken a banned substance. She suggested that the positive test could have been the result of a contaminated supplement, a defense commonly used by athletes facing similar allegations.
The case was complicated further by the scrutiny surrounding the blood passport. While there was no direct evidence linking Halep to deliberate doping, the abnormalities in her passport were part of the evidence the ITIA used to propose the suspension. As the investigation unfolded, Halep continued to assert her innocence, claiming that the positive result was due to some contaminated supplement. She appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in hopes of clearing her name and returning to the court. The case became one of the most high-profile doping controversies in recent years, as Halep navigated the legal battle quite publicly. Some expressed support for her, while others questioned how the situation would affect her legacy especially as Halep had been critical of Maria Sharapova during her doping saga.
On February 7, 2024, Halep appealed her four-year ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Court released its decision on March 5. It sided with Halep’s argument that her positive test was likely due to contamination from a supplement she had been taking. While the Court acknowledged that Halep was somewhat at fault for using the supplement, it determined that the level of negligence didn’t warrant a lengthy suspension. As a result, the original four-year ban imposed was reduced to just nine months —already served by Halep.
Halep was cleared to return to competition immediately and came back the same month at the Miami Open. After winning a breadstick first set against Paula Badosa, she would fall in three sets but a knee injury would derail any progress moving forward. A retirement in the first round of the Paris 125 event in May would be her only match until October where she played two tournaments. Halep would get her first win of her comeback with a three-set win over Arina Rodionova at the Hong Kong 125, but lost in two sets to Anna Blinkova before playing the WTA 250 in the same city, losing to Yuan Yue.
Originally given wildcards for the Australian swing this year, Halep returned them due to her ongoing knee issues, but was still honoring her commitment to her Romanian fans. Rumors of her retirement began to swirl ahead of time when she spoke about the injury and how that and the long layoff from her suspension affected her training and she wasn’t sure how long she could actively continue. Unfortunately, she suffered a one-sided 6-1, 6-1 loss to Lucia Bronzetti on a return error — something quite ironic as Halep was one of the sport’s best returners.
While it was nice for Halep to get a sendoff in her home country, I think it’s pretty clear that she still wishes she could compete and harbors resentment for her suspension and missed competition. Her rise to the top was built on sheer determination and an unrelenting work ethic. Known for her commitment to improving every aspect of her game, she worked tirelessly on both her physical fitness and mental strength, which allowed her to consistently perform at the highest level, which she was finding again when she captured a WTA 1000 just weeks before her positive test.
Unfortunately, Halep won’t get the fairy tale ending and will have a lot of “what ifs” around her entire career. Instead, she earned a 1-5 record and a WTA ranking of No. 859. Before the suspension, she would have been a shoo-in for a berth in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Personally, I do think she should be admitted for her on-court achievements but also her impact on Romanian sports. Will she get in when she’s first eligible? Only time will tell.
On to links!
Want women’s hockey content? Subscribe to The Ice Garden!
Here at The IX, we’re collaborating with The Ice Garden to bring you Hockey Friday. And if you want the women’s hockey goodness 24/7? Well, you should subscribe to The Ice Garden now!
This Week in Women’s Tennis
Belinda Bencic has quickly announced her return to the tour, taking the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open with a three-set win over Ashlyn Krueger. In only her fourth tour-level event since maternity leave, the Swiss re-enters the Top 100 as a result. The doubles title was won by Ellen Perez and Jelena Ostapenko, who defeated Zhang Shuai and Kristina Mladenovic.
At the Transylvania Open, Anastasia Potapova captured her third career WTA singles title after knocking out Lucia Bronzetti. Magali Kempen and Anna Siskova were surprise doubles champions, downing Jaqueline Cristian and Angelica Moratelli.
Jil Teichmann won the L&T Open WTA 125 event in Mumbai, India with a victory of Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the final. The doubles crown went to Amina Anshba and Elena Pridankina, who edged Arianne Hartono and Prarthana Thombare. The big news of the week was the breakout of Indian teen Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, who went from qualifying wildcard to semifinalist.
Armed with a new coach and team, Maria Sakkari is feeling renewed following a rankings slide.
I’m not about the changes coming to the mixed doubles portion of the U.S. Open and hope I’ll eat crow.
People, stop betting and sending players hate messages on social media. It goes nowhere.
Ons Jabeur returns to Doha, where she first was given a chance thirteen years ago as a wildcard. Now, she aims to represent the region with an elusive title.
Leylah Fernandez is still quite young and the 2021 U.S. Open finalist believes her best tennis is still in front of her.
Bianca Andreescu’s woes continue as the Canadian had to postpone her 2025 start due to needing her appendix removed.
Jessica Pegula highlighted the recent big wins of Madison Keys and Belinda Bencic, which continues to show the depth of the women’s game.
In college tennis news:
Balance has been a big key in Paula Badosa’s return to form.
Katrina Adams thanks the Chicago public parks for being the catalyst that got her into tennis.
The Next, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom
The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.
Readers of The IX now save 50% on their subscription to The Next.
Tweet of the Week
GOAT things at the Super Bowl:
Five at The IX: Doha Media Day
Q. This is your fourth title in a row you’re going for here. What is it about Doha, the Qatar Open, that brings the best out of you?
IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, hard to say. From what I remember it’s not like I’ve been playing, you know, like flawlessly, so it’s not like these tournaments were perfect, you know, but at some point always I found some solutions. I think the conditions here are pretty tricky, and I was patient enough to just keep focusing on my game and playing my tennis. But, yeah, every year it’s different, every year there is a different story, so it’s hard to compare and hard to find one thing that worked exactly. For sure I can, I don’t know, use my top spin here, and, yeah, but we’ll see how this year’s going to look like.
Q. So maybe this is things that you talked about already, but what is the specific reason of hiring Wim Fissette, and what kind of things are you working on with him?
IGA SWIATEK: Well, you know, in tennis you don’t have much time to really, I don’t know, have like a three-month process where you’re going to change your game. My pre-season was basically two weeks long because of playing Billie Jean King Cup, and starting the season early, so I guess we’re doing as much as possible in these periods between the tournaments, which are not long if you go well in tournaments. So, yeah, we’re kind of managing that, balancing that, with having proper time to adjust to the conditions on the tournament. These practices are always something that you just need to, where you just need to feel, you know, you’re not going to change much in your game. For sure we’re trying to be efficient and use every practice, you know, with, like, being dedicated and knowing our goals.
Wim, for sure, has good ideas on what to change in my game, and, yeah, it’s just, I think, about the time, and about really, like, you know, doing it, which is hard when you have to change places every week, and adjust to the conditions in tournaments. But this is tennis, and this is how our sport looks like, so all you can do is adjust to it and just use this time as much as possible.
Q. Do you kind of play out or think about like a whole season schedule, and making some training session and like a practice session? For instance, some players told me that they have a training session between Miami and clay court season, or like this time, or like four or five times in a year, so I was wondering if you have that kind of like a long period of schedule?
ARYNA SABALENKA: I believe in our sport it’s tough to make a schedule, so you just follow whatever happens on court. It all depends on the tournaments, the way you play, how far you get, and we just take it step by step. When we have a week we do a training session, but it all depends how you play, honestly. Of course, there is some blocks in the year where you can practice properly, and there is some times there is no time, like between Doha, Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, you have to just take one step at a time, and you don’t have much time to do a good preparation. But it’s a good problem to have, if you make it to the last stage of the tournaments, you know.
I don’t know, we follow the flow, you know. Whatever happens, if we have time it’s good, if not, we just try to maintain the energy and fit in some training in the schedule.
Q. There’s a sizeable Tunisian population here in Doha, and you said this tournament is pretty close to your heart, what support are you anticipating, and especially as a representative of the Arab world as well in this tennis circuit?
ONS JABEUR: This tournament, I would say, was only and one of the tournament that have supported me since I was young, and gave me wild cards when I needed them. They didn’t care if I didn’t have any ranking or I was in top 10, and I’m very grateful for that. I hope I’m a pretty loyal person, (laughing), so I’m very happy to come back here.
The people are unbelievable, the hospitality is always great, and I do feel like they love me first before the player that I am, and they have supported my journey. Yeah, I feel pretty grateful to be back, hopefully win some matches and have the crowd come back to support me. It is very important to me to play good here, to win, and to inspire, you know, the younger generation from my country, from the Arab countries. Yeah, this is, honestly, one of the most important tournaments, and I would trade this tournament for any of my other titles.
Q. I wanted to find out, for 1000 events like this, the first of the year, do players tend to raise their game for an event like this? There’s 10 through the year.
COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think any high-stakes tournament people want to win and do their best. Yeah, I feel like the first 1000s of the year it’s a good opportunity to not only, like, try to win, but also just work on your game, because we have basically like back-to-back-to-back 1000s. It’s a good opportunity to kind of work on your game, and although something might not click here in Doha, it doesn’t mean it can’t click by the time Indian Wells or Miami comes.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
