Halep questions 'big difference' in doping punishments after Swiatek ban

Simona Halep has hit out at the "big difference" in how doping cases are handled in tennis after Iga Swiatek was handed a one-month ban on Thursday.

World number two Swiatek accepted the one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ), the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Halep, meanwhile, was provisionally suspended in October 2022 after testing positive for roxadustat and later banned for four years in September 2023.

The ban was then reduced to nine months after the Romanian's appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March this year.

"I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgement?" Halep posted on Instagram.

"I can't find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from ITIA, the organisation that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence."

While reducing Swiatek's ban, the ITIA accepted that the positive test was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medication melatonin which the five-time Grand Slam champion took for jet lag and sleep issues.

Words cannot describe the feeling of being out there on court competing - and winning my first match after such a long period - in the sport I love. Thank you for all your support and your love, it means the world to me pic.twitter.com/s77D8uxiXJ

— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) October 2, 2024

Halep, 33, had also argued that she had taken a contaminated supplement.

"I lost two years of my career, I lost many nights when I couldn't sleep, thoughts, anxiety, questions without answers," Halep said.

"How is it possible that in identical cases happening around the same time, ITIA to have completely different approaches to my detriment?"

Meanwhile, the ITIA has said that there were "very important differences" between the two cases.

"No two cases are the same, they often involve different circumstances, and direct comparisons are not always helpful," the ITIA told BBC Sport.

"The product contaminated in Ms Swiatek's case was a regulated medication, not a supplement."