Great hope Halep - How far now?

How far will Simona Halep go at the 2014 USO?

  • Total voters
    94
D-Lite

D-Lite

Hall of Fame
Realistically, is her return just going to be like Kerber's and Wozniacki's? I appreciate those ladies returned from.pregnancy but I feel all their games are fairly based on pillars of great movement and endurance. At their respective ages, can they really reach the heights of years gone by? I guess we have to wait and see but for Kerber and Wozniacki it appears they're not as big a threat as we had anticipated. Another recent return was Svitolina who is a fair few years younger, but she appears to have become more aggressive in her game style which may be what's needed from all of the above if they stick around longer/do indeed return in Halep's case.

I haven't really kept up with the Halep case, I just feel that if she is cleared to return it will be such a shame as the past 18 months really were probably her most realistic chance at further major success on the tour. I wouldn't count her out especially with a favourable draw but not all players are able to play into their mid to late 30s with the success of the big 3.
 
spystud

spystud

Talk Tennis Guru
Damn, barely even looks like her.

IMG-1048.webp
 
robyrolfo

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
Marius_Hancu said:
Important news from CNN here.
Other related news.
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This is pretty interesting. I think she is doing a good job of creating some "reasonable doubt" about her intentions, although I don't know if that is the standard used by the TAS.

Part of me is surprised that these athletes would be willing to take so many supplements that seemingly should have very little, if any, real benefit. But then we are seeing players now playing at ages that were considered way past their prime in the past, so I'm sure a lot of strange stuff is going on.

spystud said:
Damn, barely even looks like her.
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How so? I think she looks the same. We just aren't used to seeing her in mom jeans.
 
S

ScottleeSV

Hall of Fame
She will likely have carried on training during the exodus, so it won't be like she's starting from scratch. She'll need the more intensive stuff though. Given that clay is her best chance to do some damage, I reckon she'll aim for that. It will give her a month or so to find sharpness.
 
Devil_dog

Devil_dog

Hall of Fame
ScottleeSV said:
She will likely have carried on training during the exodus, so it won't be like she's starting from scratch. She'll need the more intensive stuff though. Given that clay is her best chance to do some damage, I reckon she'll aim for that. It will give her a month or so to find sharpness.
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I think you're right about her return during the clay season. I've seen clips of her hitting albeit not super intensive. The other question I have is who will be her coach? Will it be Pat M again? It would be great to see if Miami gave her an entry in the tournament though.
 
robyrolfo

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
Well Monte Carlo is only for the men, so what smaller tournaments are going on for the women that week (or two)? Could be a good starting point. I think Charlston might be one, but probably not worth coming her for that fake, green clay.

But there is plenty of tennis to be played on clay, and leading up to the French. In today's WTA (where the level isn't exactly high), I'm sure she will be fine.
Devil_dog said:
I think you're right about her return during the clay season. I've seen clips of her hitting albeit not super intensive. The other question I have is who will be her coach? Will it be Pat M again? It would be great to see if Miami gave her an entry in the tournament though.
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That's a pretty good question. I doubt she will go back to Patrick M, unless she really liked him and doesn't blame him for this (which I don't think is the case). Do bad David Witt just went with Sakkari. I know Halep is older, but she is still a better prospect for the next few years, in my opinion.
 
3

30-0

New User
I am most happy because she managed to clear her name. Having followed Simona these past years and knowing her personality and her pride, that would have been the most devastating blow for her, having to live with a tainted reputation for the rest of her life, regardless of the titles that she might or might not have won. I've noticed that Simona is no "cheat" - never during her games have I seen her taking toilet breaks, or medical timeouts (other than when it is absolutely necessary, and then she usually retires), never does she stall in the hope of breaking the opponent's momentum. Every time she loses, she blames it on herself, not on her health state, on the opponent stalling, on the weather etc. If she does not "cheat" on a small scale like this, how could she have taken a banned substance during several months?

Let alone these considerations and having regard to the unduly long period during which she has been suspended, I wonder what the consequences are going to be for the ITIA? Same year-end bonus for the director of this fine organisation? For their sentence to be so different from that pronounced by the CAS, there must have been some blatant negligence - or even malicious intent - on their side. I am saying it again - she had a nose job in September, before she was first accused of doping. Her anesthetist said that for that operation, Simona had to ingest a whole "cocktail" of drugs during several weeks. She also said that, in combination with roxadustat taken over a long period of time, these drugs could have been very dangerous, even lethal for Simona. The operation was done with no problems whatsoever. And here goes the accusation of consistently taking roxadustat over several months. Don't get me started on the fact that the tribunal did not accept the blood samples that were taken during her operation in a hospital as evidence - they were probably not consistent with the accusation related to her biological passport.

And finally, regarding the accusation that the amount of roxadustat found in her blood exceeded sevenfold the amount of roxadustat found in the contaminated supplement - if my memory serves me right, ITIA (or their "independent" tribunal, Sports Resolutions) had initially claimed that their lab didn't have the necessary equipment to detect the presence of roxadustat in those supplements. Then how, I wonder, could they have determined that the amount present in her blood was more than seven times higher as the amount in the supplement?

I feel sorry for her, for losing so many months at her age. She was at the top and, at 32, it will be very difficult for her to come back., if not impossible. Like I said before, I would sue ITIA's and their "independent" tribunal's pants off in a civil lawsuit. And I would write a letter to the academic institutions for which the three "experts" that condemned her in their opinion are working. Some experts!
 
S

ScottleeSV

Hall of Fame
Not hanging about is she? I thought she would wait for the clay but hey, at her age why wait I suppose. Just jump in. If she loses first match, so what?
 
tennis4me

tennis4me

Hall of Fame
Interesting, but maybe not surprising...
Just a few days ago, I saw Mouratoglou still listed as her current coach in her WTA profile. Made me wonder why she hadn't removed him from her profile.

Today, saw a fan posting that she deleted all posting related to him and his academy on her Instagram.

Sure enough, he's also now gone as her coach in her WTA profile.

I wonder whether or how much this incident will affect the decisions of many parents sending their kids there.
 
B

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
30-0 said:
I am most happy because she managed to clear her name. Having followed Simona these past years and knowing her personality and her pride, that would have been the most devastating blow for her, having to live with a tainted reputation for the rest of her life, regardless of the titles that she might or might not have won. I've noticed that Simona is no "cheat" - never during her games have I seen her taking toilet breaks, or medical timeouts (other than when it is absolutely necessary, and then she usually retires), never does she stall in the hope of breaking the opponent's momentum. Every time she loses, she blames it on herself, not on her health state, on the opponent stalling, on the weather etc. If she does not "cheat" on a small scale like this, how could she have taken a banned substance during several months?

Let alone these considerations and having regard to the unduly long period during which she has been suspended, I wonder what the consequences are going to be for the ITIA? Same year-end bonus for the director of this fine organisation? For their sentence to be so different from that pronounced by the CAS, there must have been some blatant negligence - or even malicious intent - on their side. I am saying it again - she had a nose job in September, before she was first accused of doping. Her anesthetist said that for that operation, Simona had to ingest a whole "cocktail" of drugs during several weeks. She also said that, in combination with roxadustat taken over a long period of time, these drugs could have been very dangerous, even lethal for Simona. The operation was done with no problems whatsoever. And here goes the accusation of consistently taking roxadustat over several months. Don't get me started on the fact that the tribunal did not accept the blood samples that were taken during her operation in a hospital as evidence - they were probably not consistent with the accusation related to her biological passport.

And finally, regarding the accusation that the amount of roxadustat found in her blood exceeded sevenfold the amount of roxadustat found in the contaminated supplement - if my memory serves me right, ITIA (or their "independent" tribunal, Sports Resolutions) had initially claimed that their lab didn't have the necessary equipment to detect the presence of roxadustat in those supplements. Then how, I wonder, could they have determined that the amount present in her blood was more than seven times higher as the amount in the supplement?

I feel sorry for her, for losing so many months at her age. She was at the top and, at 32, it will be very difficult for her to come back., if not impossible. Like I said before, I would sue ITIA's and their "independent" tribunal's pants off in a civil lawsuit. And I would write a letter to the academic institutions for which the three "experts" that condemned her in their opinion are working. Some experts!
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Didn't they still suspend her, but it was retroactive so that any time during the appeals process counted against her suspension? It's much better than what she was looking at, but did it completely "clear" her?
 
Marius_Hancu

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
FYI, Tiriac says she should have restarted on clay, her best surface, not on hard where she's waited in ambush by hardened 21-year-olds with bodies of iron.
 
Marius_Hancu

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
Miami 2024: WC
1st R: Badosa
2nd R: Sabalenka
3rd R: Wozniacki
Good tough practice.

Halep vs Badosa, tomorrow NB 16:00 EST on Grandstand.
 
Last edited:
UnderArmServeOP

UnderArmServeOP

Rookie
Nostradamus said:
WOW,, she's back playing tennis.. ?????? i thought WTA banned her for life for drug abuse ??
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Originally given a four-year suspension -- which she claimed on Tuesday would have effectively ended her career -- it was reduced to 9 months earlier this month after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted her claim that she was not completely at fault.
As the ban was applied retroactively, Halep was immediately cleared to play, and the Miami Open granted her a wild-card entry soon after.
Nice to see the champ back regardless the result!!
 
Nostradamus

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
UnderArmServeOP said:
Originally given a four-year suspension -- which she claimed on Tuesday would have effectively ended her career -- it was reduced to 9 months earlier this month after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted her claim that she was not completely at fault.
As the ban was applied retroactively, Halep was immediately cleared to play, and the Miami Open granted her a wild-card entry soon after.
Nice to see the champ back regardless the result!!
Click to expand...
I read something about Halep was saying patrick put something in her drinks without her knowing or something and that's why it wasn't her fault ??
 
UnderArmServeOP

UnderArmServeOP

Rookie
Nostradamus said:
I read something about Halep was saying patrick put something in her drinks without her knowing or something and that's why it wasn't her fault ??
Click to expand...
Not sure about that. In the post match interview, she said that CAS gave her the clear because they found that what she had "consumed a contaminated substnace and that it wasn't really doping"
 
tennis4me

tennis4me

Hall of Fame
UnderArmServeOP said:
Quite hypocritical coming from someone who used WC's to make their return LOL
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Woz was receiving WC after maternity leave. She was not happy about players receiving WC if the players was involved in doping - whether it was intentional or not (as what Halep claimed, and agreed by CAS).

I hope these two meet in a tournament soon.
 
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