Former World No. 1, Simona Halep has said that if her four-year doping ban is upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport at her appeal in February, her career wil likely be over. 

The Romanian Tennis star, 32, was handed the suspension in September after she was found to have ingested the banned substance roxadustat from a urine sample at the 2022 US Open.

In the course of the investigation, the International Tennis Integrity Agency also discovered irregularities in her blood passport system. 

Despite Halep stating that the presence of the drug found in her system was at ‘an extremely low level’ and that trace amounts she had taken stemmed from an adjustment to her supplements, the ITIA determined that ‘the volume ingested could not have resulted in the concentration of roxadustat found’.

Their verdict went on to state that ‘they had no reason to doubt the unanimous “strong opinion” of three independent experts that “likely doping” was the explanation’

The punishment is the longest handed out in the sport since Maria Sharapova’s 2016 suspension and is set to run until 2026, after the former French Open champion will turn 36.

And an interview with Euronews Romania, Halep described the possibility of failing to overturn the ruling ‘catastrophic’.

‘If it will be four years, I don’t know how I will manage,’ Halep said. ‘It will probably be the end of my career.

‘And for something I didn’t do and it’s not my fault, it’s even more catastrophic’. 

The Romanian player has maintained her innocence throughout the process.