"This is terribly disappointing, all I ask for is to be judged" - Simona Halep frustrated as ITIA postpones decision on doping hearing

Simona Halep recently took to her Instagram stories to disclose to her fans that the final judgment on her doping case was yet to be delivered, despite the hearing having begun at the London District Court in late June.

The former World No. 1 was provisionally suspended from playing professional tennis in 2022 after testing positive for Roxadustat, a banned substance that promotes the growth of endogenous erythropoietin (EPO) for better endurance. She hasn't been allowed to compete since then, as her hearing dates keep being pushed back.

On Friday (September 1), Simona Halep informed her fans on Instagram that the English court would be delaying the decision on her doping hearing by a week. She was admittedly disappointed at the state of affairs and claimed that she had "consistently" asked for an independent tribunal to rule on the issue.

"Today I found out that the decision in my case, which was expected this week, will be further delayed. This is terribly disappointing, as I have consistently said that all I ask for is to be judged," she wrote.

She also claimed towards the end of her impassioned message that the court not coming up with a verdict on the case was taking an "emotional toll" on her.

"It is hard to explain the emotional toll that all of these delays have had and continue to have on me."

A screen capture of Simona Halep's Instagram story

Earlier this year, Simona Halep's doping hearing had been delayed multiple times. Initially scheduled to be held in February, it was delayed to March 24. The hearing was then postponed to later in the year.

During this time, Halep has not been allowed to play in professional tournaments. The Romanian even made the rankings cut for the first three Major tournaments of the year but was withdrawn from the entry lists later.

She was also not allowed to defend her points from last year's Canadian Open, where she had triumphed in a three-set final against Beatriz Haddad Maia last year. As a consequence, her WTA ranking fell outside of the top 1000 recently.

---

Simona Halep was set to become a Major tournament contender before she was banned from competing

Simona Halep poses with the 2022 Canadian Open title

Simona Halep had been a mainstay in the top-most echelons of the WTA from 2013 to 2020. The former World No. 1 then suffered a calf injury, which forced her to miss Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2021 — causing her ranking to plummet outside of the women's top 10 rankings.

The Romanian began her 2022 season in style, though, reigning supreme at the Melbourne Summer Set 1. She then reached the semifinals and quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Madrid, respectively, before recording a last-four appearance at Wimbledon.

Halep's best level, however, came at the 2022 Canadian Open. The then-World No. 15 went on a tear, defeating the likes of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula en route to a career-ninth WTA 1000 title. With her triumph, she jumped nine ranking spots to No. 6 in the world.

She played two more tournaments after her Toronto run, losing early to Daria Snigur and Veronika Kudemetova at the 2022 US Open and 2022 Cincinnati Open, respectively.