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Anti-Doping & Corruption

Patrick Mouratoglou echoes Simona Halep by imploring the ITIA to 'stop this harassment'

A day after it was revealed the Romanian faced an additional anti-doping charge, Halep's coach hit back at the latest development in her ongoing case.

ByBaseline Staff

Published May 20, 2023

Simona Halep continues to be backed by her peers in the fight to clear her name after facing a second anti-doping violation, with coach Patrick Mouratoglou leading the front.

On Friday, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced an assessment found “"irregularities in her athlete biological passport."

Halep was quick to respond by calling the latest blow to her case “harassment” in an extensive social media statement. The former world No. 1 was provisionally suspended on October 7, 2022 as a result of a US Open drug test coming back positive with the banned substance Roxadustat.

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Mouratoglou, who is in Rome coaching men's finalist Holger Rune, echoed the same sentiment Saturday.

“I ask the ITIA to stop this harassment that is inconceivable and to stop constantly delaying the hearing that should have been held in February and is now planned at the end of May,” he declared.

“I am extremely shocked by the way this case has been conducted. I thought that the ITIA would pursue the goal to establish the truth, but they clearly try to prove her guilty even though she has been able to show multiple evidence of her innocence since December 2022.”

Said 18-time major singles winner Chris Evert on Twitter, “It’s very hard for me to believe Simona would intentionally use PEDs.”

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On Halep’s Instagram post, Alizé Cornet assured the Romanian, “You're gonna get through this.” Boris Becker wrote back, “word”, in response to Halep’s statement.

The week prior, former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty shared her support in an interview with The Guardian.

“I really sincerely hope that she has an opportunity to have her say and to explain her side, because there are always two sides to every story,” the Australian stated. “I think you’d be struggling to find anyone who wouldn’t want to see her back out there doing what she absolutely loves, which is competing on a big stage against the best in the world.”

Halep’s hearing with an independent tribunal is currently set for May 28, the day Roland Garros kicks off main-draw action. Five years ago, Halep lifted her first major trophy in Paris.