"Cheaters are always ahead of the testing": Jimmy Connors' son gives damning verdict after successful Simona Halep appeal

As Simona Halep has her appeal reduce her stint away from the sport from four years to nine months, Jimmy Connors' son sees the need for a spotlight to be shone on anti-doping and in particular how big names can get away with it easier.

Connors said that in his mind, the cheaters are always ahead of the testing with Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova two of the biggest and only a few that have actually been caught albeit returning to the sport fairly quickly. He said that it can't just be an issue at lower level that it's an issue and one where they are getting caught.

In particular, this spotlight can be shone for ABP (Athlete Biological Passport). This only gets called for when an athlete tests positive so in reality, an athlete could have adverse findings in their many blood samples and if they don't test positive on one test, that is it and they can still cheat. Halep took the substance Roxudustat through a collagen supplement and suffered a further breach through ABP when this was utilised after her positive. But she used surgery and also not training for a while as an excuse for adverse findings.

“The old saying is the cheaters are always ahead of the testing. You know, so like, if you look at the history of tennis, the amount of people who’ve been popped for peds is pretty low," said Brett Connors on the Advantage Connors podcast.

“And then the actual names associated with it are also like, not that, you know, biggest names. One of them yeah. Sharapova, maybe the other (Halep)."

“But you know, so you’re telling me in the whole sport, like, you know, with all the testing and all the stuff that they do that there’s just these couple small, like, lower level, the people that are cheating

“Like when you know, it’s probably prevalent in every athletic division and fighting and basketball, and football and baseball, just everything where they’re probably doing?”