31-Year-Old Simona Halep Takes Refuge in the Buddha as She Aims to Overcome Her Doping Suspension Ordeal

After making her debut as a professional tennis player in 2008, Romanian WTA star Simona Halep climbed her way up the rankings over the years and established herself as a force to reckon with on the women’s tour. Winner of 24 WTA titles including 2 grand slams, Halep proved her mettle as one of the most talented and consistent players on the tour in recent times. However, things took a drastic turn when Halep tested positive for a banned substance named Roxadustat, days after her 1st round exit from last year’s US Open.

The Romanian has provisionally remained suspended from the tour since then, even though she has time and again emphasized her innocence and highlighted that she didn’t use the substance intentionally. The 31-year-old seems to be taking refuge in the preachings of Lord Buddha during this precarious time, as is evident from her recent social media activity.

Simona Halep turns to Lord Buddha as her battle for justice continues

After much hullabaloo about delays in hearing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) regarding her case, Halep’s future on the tennis court still hangs in the balance. As we head towards the final grand slam of the season, Halep found a slight glimmer of hope when her name was included in the entry list of the upcoming US Open. But her happiness was short-lived as the ITIA quickly reiterated the fact that Halep was still tagged as provisionally suspended in the list, which meant that her entry is subject to be withdrawn.

The former world number 1, however, seems to be completely focused on continuing her fight for justice. In a recent Instagram story, she shared an inspiring quote from Lord Buddha, with a heart emoji as the caption, “Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters the most.”

This is clearly indicative of the fact that she has no intentions of giving up on her fight for a fair trial that she has been seeking for a long time from the ITIA.

READ MORE: Days After Ray of Hope, Bad Luck Clouds 31-Year-Old Simona Halep as Tennis Career Hangs in the Balance With Stringent ITIA Announcement

Just a few weeks back, Halep took a huge step in her quest to find justice as she went on to present her case at the London District Court.

Halep showed no faith in ITIA as she turned toward the London court 

Simona Halep has repeatedly accused the ITIA of denying her justice by delaying her trials and hearing proceedings. Things further escalated when ITIA found irregularities in the Romanian’s biological passport, which was again refuted by Halep. She finally decided to present her case at the London court.

As per reports, she might face a suspension of 2 years which she can further challenge via an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Doing this might reduce her sentence by a considerable margin further.

Safe to say, that the 2-time grand slam winner has no intentions of stopping her fight until a proper verdict is reached. Can Simona Halep overcome all these obstacles and make a successful comeback on the tennis court? Tell us what you think in the comments. 

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