1 week Ago By Own Correspondent
A SYSTEM designed to uncover cheats in tennis has come under sharpened scrutiny in the wake of former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep being banned for a doping offence. British doubles player Tara Moore losing two years of her career has also raised questions. She has recently returned after contaminated meat was deemed the source of her failed test.
Those at the heart of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) – the independent body set up by the sport’s governing bodies to fulfil a mission of providing ‘tennis you can trust’ – insist it still serves its purpose. “Nobody wants to nail tennis players or ruin their careers without reason. But we follow the evidence and independent expertise to reach a conclusion,” an ITIA source told BBC Sport.
Others who have seen their careers derailed, by what some perceive as convoluted and unfair processes, are not convinced. “For them, it is a procedure. It has one job – to give us the biggest punishment possible according to the accusation,” said former world number 75 Kamil Majchrzak, who was banned for 13 months after failing a doping test in 2022.
“But it is our life which is on the edge – not theirs.” Two-time major champion Halep has always maintained her innocence and regularly criticised the ITIA’s process while her case was ongoing, describing it as an “ordeal”. Her former coach Darren Cahill accused the ITIA of making “false accusations and false narratives”, demanding a “full revi.
