Chris Evert comes out swinging for Simona Halep
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Simona Halep has been well-supported in her bid to clear her name in the ongoing doping saga that has derailed the former World No 1’s career.
Halep has received the backing of Chris Evert, who says she believes the Romanian.
Patrick Mouratoglou stunningly accepted blame for a case of contamination of Halep’s nurtional regime which has reinforced the belief among many that Halep did not intentionally dope.
Evert wrote on X: “Simona Halep appeal set for February. I, for one, believe she’s innocent.
“Yes, she had roxadustat in her system, but she handed her whole life over to her coach and his team, who controlled her career, nutrition, management.
“I think she’s innocent.”
Halep has been overwhelmed by the level of support she has received from all quarters of the game.
The former Wimbledon champion told Euro News: “Well, the support has been amazing. The fans who are supporting me unconditionally, which means a lot. It means a huge amount to see the people, even if I’m facing the worst moment in my life as an athlete I know I’m clean.
“I received tonnes of messages, good messages, and the biggest thing is that I’ve never faced a person who told me something negative. So all of them were positive, and this gave me the strength to keep fighting every day, to clear my name and to show that I didn’t do anything wrong. The players also, which are opponents, they also showed their support and I really appreciate it because it means a lot.
“We are fighting on court and when you are in the worst situation, they are there and they support you. Also the legends. I had such a big support from legends in tennis and they were also publicly speaking about me and this means a lot. They were supporting me fully and it’s great, it’s huge. Everything helps me to stay strong in these difficult times and to fight to clear my name.”
Halep also added that she was grateful that Mouratoglou had come forward but had wished he had made a statement sooner.
“It’s true that he went out,” Halep said.
“I wish he could have done that a little bit earlier. I have stopped working with the academy for a while already. I’m just, you know… When I found myself in this situation, it was difficult to manage because I have always trusted in my teams, previous teams and everybody that I work with because I felt like trusting, you have a better chance to perform at your maximum. And I’ve always been open to learn from people.
“That’s why you hire people, because you need the information, you need to be better. So I always trusted this and my trust is broken a little bit right now. And in the future, I don’t know how it’s going to be, if I can trust again. And probably I have to learn, because this is my principle in life, if you hire somebody and you work with that person, you have to trust.”
READ MORE: Simona Halep concedes CAS appeal failure would spell the end of her career