Simona Halep is free to resume her career after the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced her doping ban from four years to nine months.
The former Wimbledon champion tested positive for the blood-boosting drug Roxadustat at the US Open in 2022 and was handed the long ban last September.
Halep appealed to CAS and, following a hearing last month, the court has dramatically reduced the Romanian’s suspension.
A CAS statement read: “The CAS panel has unanimously determined that the four-year period of ineligibility imposed by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) independent tribunal is to be reduced to a period of ineligibility of nine months starting on October 7, 2022, which period expired on July 6, 2023.”
The International Tennis Integrity Agency, which oversees tennis’ anti-doping programme, had also appealed seeking an even longer ban, but this is a major victory for Halep, who was staring at the end of her career if the original sanction stood.
The independent tribunal had not accepted Halep’s explanation that a contaminated supplement was the source of the Roxadustat in her system, while a charge of irregularities in her athlete biological passport was also upheld.
But the CAS panel took a different view, with a statement reading: “Having carefully considered all the evidence put before it, the CAS panel determined that Ms Halep had established, on the balance of probabilities, that the Roxadustat entered her body through the consumption of a contaminated supplement which she had used in the days shortly before August 29, 2022 and that the Roxadustat, as detected in her sample, came from that contaminated product.
“As a result, the CAS panel determined that Ms Halep had also established, on the balance of probabilities, that her anti-doping rule violations were not intentional.
“Although the CAS panel found that Ms Halep did bear some level of fault or negligence for her violations, as she did not exercise sufficient care when using the Keto MCT supplement, it concluded that she bore no significant fault or negligence.”
CAS dismissed the biological passport finding, saying: “Contrary to the reasoning of the first instance tribunal, the CAS panel determined that it was appropriate in the circumstances to consider the results of a private blood sample given by Ms Halep on September 9, 2022 in the context of a surgery which occurred shortly thereafter.
“Those results, and Ms Halep’s public statements that she did not intend to compete for the remainder of the 2022 calendar year, impacted the plausibility of the doping scenarios relied upon by the ITF independent tribunal.
“Having regard to the evidence as a whole, the CAS panel was not comfortably satisfied that an anti-doping rule violation had occurred. It therefore dismissed that charge.”
The ITIA has also been ordered to pay Halep around £18,000 as a contribution to her legal fees and expenses.
Halep was the highest-profile tennis player since Maria Sharapova to fail a drugs test, having won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon the following year as well as being ranked world number one.
The 32-year-old, who strongly criticised the original process, will now look to rebuild her career.
Raducanu helps Great Britain reach Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals
Emma Raducanu set Great Britain on their way to the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals, as they knocked out defending champions Canada on Sunday.
Great Britain won both of their singles matches in Malaga, with Raducanu starting the day with a straight-sets victory.
She cruised through the first set before showing her mettle in the second to gain a 6-0 7-5 victory over Rebecca Marino in the early game.
Katie Boulter then secured their passage, holding off Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 42 minutes, without the need for a doubles decider.
Despite being the second lowest-ranked team, Great Britain are through to the final four without dropping a set in any of their singles matches so far.
They will face Slovakia, who beat 2022 runners-up Australia earlier on Sunday to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2013.
Like Great Britain, they triumphed in both of their singles matches, with Viktoria Hruncakova and Rebecca Sramkova coming out on top to secure the unassailable lead.
ATP Finals: Sinner 'surprised' himself with 2024 success
Jannik Sinner says he has surprised himself in 2024 after capping off his incredible year with a maiden ATP Finals title on Sunday.
Sinner beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in Turin to claim his eighth title of the season and become the first Italian champion in the competition.
He is the seventh player in the Open Era to win the ATP Finals on home soil, and the first since Andy Murray in 2016, as he collected his Tour-leading 70th win of the campaign.
The 23-year-old, who had already confirmed his year-end number-one ranking in October, was delighted to finish the season on a high.
"It's amazing, it's my first title in Italy, and it means so much to me," said Sinner. "It's something very special.
"I just tried to understand what works best for each opponent, trying to play my best possible tennis. That was the key.
"It was a very high-level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn't have played better, so I am very happy."
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after, he added: "Honestly, I have surprised myself the whole year at times, but in my mind, I know how much work I put in and how many sacrifices I have made to be in this position.
"I just try to play in the present moment."
Fritz, the first American to reach the final of the ATP Finals and US Open in the same season since Andre Agassi in 1999, will go into 2025 as the world number four.
The 27-year-old, who also lost to Sinner in the US Open showpiece, remained upbeat despite his defeat, revelling in his success over the past 12 months instead.
"It's been a really good week for me. Obviously, it's a good way to end the year. It gives me a lot of confidence finishing the season like this," Fritz said.
"Something I told my team in 2023 when I hit world number five for a week right before I was defending the Indian Wells title, was 'That's crazy, I'm five in the world, look at all these guys ranked behind me that are probably better than me'.
"Back then I was five, but I didn't feel like I was five. Now I'm ranked where I'm at. I feel like I belong.
"It's a different feeling. It's been a great year. That gives me a lot of confidence to have that belief. That's a huge part of having the big results. The goal I set for myself at the start of the year was to finish top five."
ATP Finals: Sinner completes sensational year with Turin triumph
Jannik Sinner claimed his maiden ATP Finals title as the all-conquering world number one capped off a sensational season in style.
Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 in Turin on Sunday, claiming his eighth title of 2024 in the process.
It was a rematch of this year's US Open final, which Sinner also won, and the Italian made home advantage count in another dominant show of force befitting of his place at the top of the ATP rankings.
Fritz, the first American to reach the final of the ATP Finals and the US Open in the same season since Andre Agassi in 1999, managed to force only one break point, and even that was clawed back by Sinner at the end of the first set.
And Sinner's performance on serve was ultimately just too strong for Fritz, who was on the end of a wonderful drop-shot in the final game as his opponent delighted the crowd.
A cross-court forehand went long from Fritz on the next point to decide the match, and complete Sinner's supreme season.
Data Debrief: King of the hill
Sinner is the seventh player in the Open Era to win the ATP Finals on home soil, and the first since Andy Murray in 2016, as he collected his Tour-leading 70th win of the season. He is the first Italian champion of this competition.
The 23-year-old has also joined Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win the Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals in the same year.
Having fallen at the final hurdle against Djokovic last season, Sinner was in no mood for a repeat of that heartbreak. Indeed, he went through the entirety of this year's tournament without dropping a single set, making him the first player to win the ATP Finals without giving up a set since Ivan Lendl in 1986.
Since the start of August, Sinner has won three of the four tournaments he has competed in, with his sole defeat coming to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the China Open.
While 2024 will go down as Sinner's year, Fritz can at least take solace in a fine season of his own, and he will head into 2025 as the world number four.
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