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Simona Halep's former coach Patrick Mouratoglou has reacted to the Romanian winning the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) appeal in her doping case.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accused Halep of using a prohibited substance named Roxadustat back in August 2022. They alleged the Romanian to have breached anti-doping measures, subsequently handing her a four-year ban from tennis.
Halep constantly pleaded her innocence in the case, claiming that her nutritional supplements must have been contaminated with Roxadustat and that she had never used any banned substance intentionally.
Halep recently filed an appeal with the CAS to prove her innocence. In CAS' latest verdict, the tribunal had cleared the two-time Grand Slam champion of any misdeed in the case. The Court also reduced Halep's ban from four years to nine months allowing her to return to the tour now as she has been serving a provisional ban since October 2022.
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Taking to social media on Tuesday, March 5, Halep reflected on how her belief in truth and justice inspired her through the "challenging journey."
"In the midst of this challenging journey, my unwavering belief in the integrity of the truth and in the principles of justice has been my beacon. Despite facing daunting accusations and formidable opposition, my spirit remained buoyant, anchored in my unwavering conviction of being a clean athlete," Simona Halep wrote on Instagram.
"This ordeal has been a testament to resilience, and the triumph of truth is a bittersweet vindication that, albeit delayed, is immensely gratifying," she added.
Halep also expressed hopes of returning to the tour with more strength and passion.
"Looking forward, I am eager to turn this page and rejoin the tour with renewed vigor and an invigorated spirit," Halep wrote.
Mouratoglou expressed delight at Halep winning her fight for justice.
"The truth prevailed," the Frenchman wrote under the Instagram post.
Simona Halep parted ways with Patrick Mouratoglou amid doping ban
Simona Halep announced parting ways with Patrick Mouratoglou amid the doping case.
Halep had disclosed that she took nutritional supplements contaminated with Roxadustat as per her coaching team's recommendation. In light of this, the Romanian stated that her trust in her coaching team was compromised, eventually leading to her split up with Mouratoglou.
"When I found myself in this situation, it was difficult to manage because I have always trusted in my teams, previous teams and everybody that I work with because I felt like trusting. In the future, I don't know how it's going to be, if I can trust again," Halep said in an interview with Euronews in December 2023.
Patrick Mouratoglou was appointed as Halep's full-time coach in May 2022 following her split-up with Darren Cahill. During the short stint, he guided the Romanian to a title run at the 2022 Canadian Open.
