Halep scores important first victory in bid to clear her name after doping ban

Simona Halep made the first big step toward clearing her name as the Romanian was able to pinpoint where the banned substance in her body came from.

Halep was suspended from tennis earlier this year after it became public that she tested positive for a banned substance twice. Halep first tested positive after the US Open and then tested positive once more when she submitted another sample.

She accepted the suspension but promised to fight and clear her name with many in the tennis community siding with Halep. It appears as if she was able to find out where the substance came from and it's a supplement that is missing the correct labelling.

Halep is generally very mindful of what she takes but the banned substance was not declared in the supplement as it should have been resulting in the positive test. A Romanian Judge working for CAS said:

"It seems that the method by which Roxadustat entered the athlete's body has been identified, namely by ingesting a contaminated food supplement. A contaminated product is a product that contains a prohibited substance, without this being specified on the product label or in the information accessible through a reasonable search on the Internet."

Despite the finding, Halep has not yet been cleared as the procedure continues. The judge confirmed that by saying:

"The athlete is still at this moment between the lifting of the suspension, i.e. the removal of any sanctions, and the 4-year suspension from sports activity.