Tennis: Simona Halep has 4-year doping ban reduced, can play immediately

March 5 (UPI) -- Former world No. 1 Simona Halep won an appeal of a four-year doping ban and is cleared to immediately resume her tennis career, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Tuesday.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced a provisional suspension for Halep in October 2022 after she tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat, a medication used to treat anemia.

The agency cited Halep for two separate breaches of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program, including when it found the presence of the drug in the tennis star at the 2022 U.S. Open.

The ITIA announced Sept. 12 that Halep was suspended for four years for anti-doping violations. At that time, Halep wrote on social media that she "never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance" and "refused to accept" the decision.

She then appealed the ban, which had been set to end in 2026.

In its Tuesday announcement, CAS said its panel determined her four-year ban would be reduced to nine months, starting Oct. 7, 2022, and expiring July 6, 2023.

"Although the CAS panel found that Ms. Halep did bear some level of fault or negligence for her violations, as she did not exercise sufficient care when using the Keto MCT supplement, it concluded that she bore no significant fault or negligence," CAS said in its release.

Halep, 31, hasn't competed since she lost to Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur on Aug. 29, 2022, at the U.S. Open. The two-time Grand Slam champion missed the last five Grand Slam tournaments.

The Romanian is a two-time Grand Slam singles titleholder, with crowns from the 2018 French Open and Wimbledon 2019. She beat Serena Williams for her most-recent title. Halep, who was the year-end WTA No. 1 in 2017 and 2018, is a five-time Grand Slam singles finalist.

"The WTA respects the processes that are in place to protect the integrity of the sport and provide a clean and fair sporting environment," the WTA said in a statement.

"With this, the WTA fully supports the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and we welcome Simona's immediate return to the WTA and play."