Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep has been banned from professional tennis for four years. This decision by the International Tennis Integrity Agency comes on the back of 2 anti-doping violations by her. The news of Halep’s ban has rocked the tennis world, and many have come forward in support of Halep. However, several tennis stars have also spoken out against Halep, with Nick Kyrgios being one of them.
Serena Williams was the most notable tennis player to throw shade at Simona. Williams took to social media to indirectly hint that she deserved an eighth Wimbledon title. Halep and Williams had clashed in the Wimbledon final in 2019, where the Romanian had denied Serena an eighth trophy at SW19.
Kyrgios, who has never shied away from sharing his opinions, controversial as they may be, wasn’t far behind either. Like Serena, Kyrgios also took an apparent jibe at Halep.
champion…. smh
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) September 13, 2023
Maria Sakkari, however, gave a very thoughtful answer when she was asked about Simona’s ban. She described the current scenario with respect to the anti-doping agencies as “scary.”
The Greek tennis player spoke very frankly, revealing how players have to be mindful of what they consume. Sakkari’s line of answer was very different from Nick Kyrgios’. But the Kyrgios-Halep saga did not end with the aforementioned tweet.
Nick Kyrgios slams Maria Sakkari for her comments
Simona Halep’s case doping case is bringing forth a lot of unpleasantness and difficult conversations. While some are dealing with this situation tactfully, others are not. Nick Kyrgios falls within the second group.
The Australian tennis star slammed Sakkari for her recent comments on the current doping scenario. Kyrgios claimed that if he were taking ‘similar things’ he would have won 5 Grand Slam titles by now. “Maybe players should just stop taking shady sh*t,” he wrote on X, in response to Sakkari’s statements.
Ehhhh not really lol, I run on bananas and coke cola in 5 set battles. And my record in them speaks for itself. Maybe players should just stop taking shady sh*t 😂 look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and say yep I did it right. Not hard.
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) September 14, 2023
An independent tribunal found Halep guilty of doping on two separate occasions. The first count was Halep testing positive for roxadustat after the US Open last year. The second was due to irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport, which monitors biological markers.
These are difficult times for Simona Halep. The two-time Grand Slam champion has found her name dragged through the mud since the news broke. She will contest this decision though. A long battle awaits Simona.
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