Simona Halep has expressed her opinion after Jannik Sinner escaped a doping ban in March despite two positive tests for the banned substance clostebol.

The Italian was able to quickly and successfully appeal both provisional suspensions and was allowed to continue playing. Last month, an independent court ruled that he was “not at fault or negligent” for the two anti-doping violations.

Halep had previously been banned for four years after testing positive for another banned substance, roxadustat. She appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and her ban was reduced to nine months, allowing her to return.

The two-time Grand Slam champion made her comeback at the Miami Open earlier this year after her suspension was reduced on appeal, but she has barely played since then due to a knee injury. Halep has now responded for the first time to Sinner’s doping saga, claiming she was “judged differently” to the ATP No. 1.

“I don’t think it’s about defense. I think it’s about something very clear and visible,” Halep said, according to SpotMedia.ro. “I was judged completely differently and I suffered a lot. I waited a lot, which I don’t think is fair at all.”

Halep, a former world number one herself, wants female players to be treated consistently in all areas of doping cases. She continued: “I believe that all female athletes should have the same judgment and be treated equally, regardless of whether they are number 1 or number 200.”

“I don’t think what happened is fair. It’s an issue I’d like to put behind me and move on with my life, because life is beautiful.” Halep is not the only one calling for equality between players who find themselves in a similar situation.

Briton Liam Broady claimed he would have been banned if he had been in Sinner’s position. And the Professional Tennis Players Association – co-founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil – wants players to receive the same treatment as the Italian.

While Halep and Sinner both argued that their positive tests were the result of contamination, the Romanian’s case was arguably more complicated. Sinner’s team knew the source of the contamination immediately upon being informed of the positive tests.

In the Halep case, the 32-year-old argued that she had taken a collagen preparation that was contaminated with roxadustat. An independent tribunal rejected this argument at a hearing in 2023 and banned her for four years. But in February of this year, the CAS partially upheld her appeal and reduced her ban to seven months.

In a statement, the CAS stated: “Although the CAS Panel found that Ms. Halep suffered a degree of fault or negligence for her violations because she did not exercise due care in taking the Keto-MCT supplement, it concluded that she did not suffer significant fault or negligence.”