“Simona Halep was found with a LOT more drugs”, “She’s not wrong” – Fans divided over Romanian’s reaction to Jannik Sinner’s doping controversy

shinaSeptember 6, 2024

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Sudipto Pati

Modified Sep 03, 2024 08:25 GMT

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Simona Halep recently compared Jannik Sinner’s doping controversy to her own. The former WTA World No. 1 opined that she received a much harsher punishment than Sinner did. However, Halep’s take has left fans divided. While some have empathized with her over her admission, others have suggested that her and Sinner’s cases simply cannot be compared.

Sinner tested positive for the banned substance clostebol on two separate occasions in March this year. The Italian received a provisional suspension in April, but the suspension was quickly lifted after his team was quick to identify the source of the contamination; a spray that Sinner’s physio was using to treat a cut on his own finger, following which he massaged the Italian without wearing gloves.Later, an independent tribunal looked into the matter and cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing. After the independent tribunal came to its decision, the entire saga was made public, days ahead of the 2024 US Open, triggering shockwaves in the tennis world.

The punishments for Sinner were the docking of the ranking points and prize money that he had earned by virtue of his run to the semifinals of the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.Recently, former WTA World No. 1 Simona Halep opened up about Sinner’s case. Halep herself had to serve a lengthy ban after another banned substance, roxadustat, was found in her blood samples. Even though Halep’s case has been resolved after a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing earlier this year, she continues to maintain that she was treated unfairly.

With regards to Sinner’s case, Halep said that the treatment meted out by the authorities to athletes should be the same, irrespective of their status. The Romanian also stated that she wants to move on from her doping saga.

“It was judged in a completely different way to my case. I suffered a lot during my whole process and I don’t think it was fair that I was not allowed to compete for so long. I believe that all athletes should have the same judgment and be treated the same, regardless of whether they are number 1 or number 200. All I want is to leave that stage of my life behind,” Halep told journalists in Bucharest during her presence at the inauguration of a new ice skating rink in the Romanian capital.

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Several fans on Reddit disagreed with Halep’s take. According to these fans, Halep and Sinner’s respective cases have very little in common.

“She was found with a LOT more drugs in her system. Can’t really compare the cases,” a fan wrote.

“Well your case was different, that’s why,” commented another fan.

“She’s always acting like she was cleared when she just got her sentenced reduced and by the time it was reduced she had been out for long enough to get back on tour. All cases aren’t the same and not everybody handles them the same. Everything about her case was clearly worse,” another chimed in.

“I’m so tired of Halep and other players acting like these cases are similar. Higher concentration, not able to give a plausible explanation. The only difference is that Sinner seems to have had a competent legal team. He was not judged differently because he’s world number one. He was judged differently because his case was different.” another fan added.

“Oh honey, if you failed to appeal of course it was different.” other fan said.

However, there were some fans who understood where Halep came from.

“She’s not wrong,” wrote one fan.

“True. Everyone who disagrees is just not informed or coping. She did break the rules in a more major way, but she lost 2 years of her career and her ban was 7 months. She didn’t get those 17 months back and she lost them because of the slugfest of processing her case, while Sinner got an extremely quick response. And it’s not like Halep was nobody, she had plenty money to get the good lawyers and I’m sure she did,” another fan commented.

“Obviously there are a lot of differences, but I don’t think she’s unreasonable for not wanting her name to be dragged through the mud during the investigation,” yet another fan weighed in.

Halep returned to action at this year’s Miami Open, but was sent packing by Paula Badosa in the first round. The Romanian’s next outing came at a WTA 125 tournament in Paris, but it ended with Halep retiring mid-match with an injury. The two-time Major winner hasn’t played competitively since then.

Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner has sealed his place in the quarterfinals of the ongoing 2024 US Open.

Jannik Sinner downs Tommy Paul; set for meeting with Daniil Medvedev in US Open 2024 QF

Jannik Sinner in action at the 2024 US Open (Source: Getty)

Sinner defeated home hope Tommy Paul in straight sets in the pair’s fourth-round clash at the 2024 US Open. The ATP World No. 1 will square off against former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev on Thursday, September 5.

The Italian and the Russian have faced each other already at two separate Majors this year. Their first meeting of the season came in the final of the Australian Open, which saw Sinner remarkably overturn a two-set deficit to clinch his maiden Grand Slam title.However, their next clash, which came in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships, went Medvedev’s way. The Russian leads the pair’s head-to-head on the ATP Tour 7-5.

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