“It was painful, is painful and maybe the injustice that was done to me will always be painful”, Simona Halep wrote last month, venting out her extreme frustration over Iga Swiatek’s doping scandal. The reason for Halep’s disappointment was Iga’s 1-month ban. On the other hand, the Romanian had received a 4-year suspension back in 2022 after testing positive. However, her penalty got revised earlier this year. But the ban’s duration was still 9 months – more than Swiatek’s. Sadly, it’s not the only thing the Romanian is upset about.

For the unversed, Simona had shared a long note on Instagram, dated November 29, in which she called out the tennis authorities for giving an alleged preferential treatment to Iga Swiatek. “I’m sitting and trying to understand, but it’s really impossible for me to understand something like this. I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment?”, wrote Halep. Interestingly, in the same note, the 33-year-old also revealed how she was denied of her ranking by the WTA and the Players’ Council.

Back in 2022, Simona Halep was World No.10 when she was handed the suspension. Since then, the Romanian tennis player’s ranking has dipped extremely low. Currently, she’s No.879 on the list. Apparently, Halep tried to get her previous ranking back through the help of the Players’ Council. But it didn’t get her any fruitful result. “How could I accept that the WTA and the players council did not want to return me the ranking that I deserved?!” she wrote in the same post. Even after a week, the conversation is still open!

In an Instagram story, dated December 8, she expressed her frustration once again by sharing another story from a fan account, wta_romania, that highlights Romanian players on the WTA Tour. “So apparently Simona tried to get help from the WTA player’s council about getting her ranking and they denied her. Easy to see why when you see who the player’s council is”, read the story description.

Hours later, the fan account acknowledged Simona for sharing their story on her account. “Always have Simona’s back and will speak up when she has been wronged! Happy she appreciates it by sharing to everyone,” read the description.

Fun fact: The Players’ Council is basically a group under the WTA board of directors. It comprises eight selected players on the tour. They advocate all players’ interest, their grievances, changes in the schedule, and other major concerns.

In March 2024, when Halep returned to the Miami Open after her nine-month doping ban reduction, the WTA considered a rule change that would grant players who served doping bans “special rankings” upon their return to the tour. “The precise timeline for any potential rule change and its subsequent implementation will be dependent on the feedback received from our members,” a WTA spokesperson told Reuters via email.

Seems like the current Council’s panel having Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Garcia, Jessica Pegula, Donna Vekić, Daria Saville, Gabriela Dabrowski, and Aleksandra Krunić, didn’t pay any heed to Halep’s plea. Meanwhile, her angst regarding Iga is still intact.

Simona Halep continues to take shots at Iga Swiatek in the doping scandal

In an interview with The Telegraph, Halep targeted Swiatek while putting out her frustration. Simply because the latter was also allowed to play in two events despite serving an active ban last month. In the middle of her suspension period, the Pole participated in the WTA Finals and then the BJK Cup in November. And all of it happened when her 1-month ban was yet to end on December 4.

“The woman player – I don’t want to give name, you know about who I’m talking about – she had the three-week suspension, then she played two events, and then she gets again suspension. What is this? I mean, I don’t understand. So I feel it is not fair”, said Halep.

Moreover, she also revealed how the events happened so far have affected her mental health. “Yeah, I lost my sleep again. I lost it for two years during the process [of contesting her own doping ban]. Then I got it back. And now, after [what happened], for a few days, yeah, I lost it again. All the negative thinking, negative thoughts, it’s not easy to handle,” she said.

At the moment, it’s very clear that Simona won’t leave the matter unresolved. It will be interesting to see how this entire situation will shape up going forward. Do you think the Romanian has faced injustice in her doping case? Let us know in the comments below.