Simona Halep banned for four years for doping
Former world number one Simona Halep has been given a four-year suspension from tennis following breaches of the sport's anti-doping programme, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Romanian tested positive for the banned substance roxadustat last year and was charged with a separate second anti-doping breach in May "relating to irregularities in her athlete biological passport". Halep, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, had been provisionally suspended since October 2022. An independent tribunal said this would count in her period of full suspension, which will now run from October 7, 2022 to October 6, 2026. The case remains subject to appeal. (AFP)