Romanian Tennis star Simona Halep on Monday got dropped from the entry list for US Open 2023 due to a provisional doping suspension. Halep was hit with a second anti-doping charge in May for irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport. The 31-year-old's spot went to Taylor Townsend at the Flushing Meadows.
The US Tennis Association confirmed that the former World No.1 Halep 'was automatically withdrawn' when the qualifying draw was held. Halep is fighting to prove her innocence since last year's US Open. She is criticising The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for damaging her reputation. According to the ITIA, the Romanian tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat at the last year's US Open.
"With the Qualifying draw having been released and no update to her situation, Simona Halep has been automatically withdrawn from the US Open," Romanian Tennis wrote on Twitter. Halep has not played an official match since August 2022 when she suffered a loss to Daria Snigur at the US Open 2022 event.
As she has not played for a year, Halep was dropped out of the top 1000 in WTA rankings. She lost 562 places and holds the 1140th position with only 10 points to her name. She reached the World No.1 ranking in 2017 and has two Grand Slam titles to her name. Halep won the French Open 2018 title after a win over Sloane Stephens in the final. She defeated Serena Williams in the final of Wimbledon 2019 to win her second title.
