"This comment without knowing the file is astonishing" - Simona Halep's coach Mouratoglou hits out at journalist over questionable take on doping case

Simona Halep's coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently took to social media to respond to a French journalist, who gave a purely speculative take on the Romanian's recent doping ban.

Earlier on Tuesday (12 September), Halep was served a four-year ban from professional tennis by the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) for breaches of the sport's anti-doping program.

According to the tennis governing body, Simona Halep had committed two separate violations of anti-doping rules, which were substantiated by an analysis of 51 blood samples in her ABP (Athlete Biological Passport).

Patrick Mouratoglou, meanwhile, was the 31-year-old's coach at the time when the banned substance Roxadustat was first detected in her blood. In that context, the Frenchman came out in defense of her client as he posted a detailed statement on X (formerly Twitter).

The famous coach's statement, however, was met with ambivalence from a French journalist named Aurelie V. She inferred that Simona Halep had perhaps taken illegal substances without her knowledge, as tennis players are usually very particular about the drinks and food they ingest.

"It's funny. Athletes get busted but they never take any substance voluntarily. You are a high-level athlete and paying attention to what you can eat, drink or take as a vitamin is just part of your job!? It may be just because she doped or not at all because she ingested something without her knowledge, but the blood tests are there," the journalist wrote.

Her insinuations didn't sit well with Mouratoglou, though, who asserted in a separate post that forming such opinions without any actual information was ill-advised on her part.

"As a journalist, making this kind of comment without knowing the file is astonishing," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Simona Halep's coach believes that the ITIA is a system that is "destroying careers of innocent players"

Patrick Mouratoglou began working with Simona Halep in 2022

In his statement, Patrick Mouratoglou asserted that the ITIA was part of a vicious system that was unfairly damaging the careers of innocent players. He wrote:

"I do not believe that the ITIA looked for the truth in Simona's case, and I do not believe that they treated her in way that is acceptable. I hope that the WTA, ATP and PTPA will do their best to change a system that is destroying careers of innocent players."

He also expressed disappointment with the governing body's treatment of Simona Halep. They had previously prolonged the beginning of the Romanian's doping hearing, much to the outrage of her most ardent fans.

"I cannot believe the decision that the ITIA has taken today in the case of Simona Halep. I am extremely shocked and I have been during this whole year by the methods and the behavior of an organization that is supposed to treat the players fairly and try to establish the truth," he wrote in his statement.

The Frenchman also maintained that the former World No. 1 was innocent, while also claiming that the independent tribunal that reviewed her case was being controlled by the ITIA.

"I know Simona's integrity and I have no doubt that she has never taken any banned substance. I hope that Simona will prevail at CAS which is the only Tribunal that is not controlled by the ITIA."

For what it's worth, Simona Halep is not the first player to have received a doping ban from the ITIA in 2023. The tennis governing body has been recently cracking down on many players on both ATP & WTA tours. They also banned the likes of former World No. 33 Jenson Brooksby, Sweden's Mikael Ymer and USA's Syndey Dorcil, among some other names.