Chris Evert has a strong opinion about Simona Halep’s ban being lifted

Chris Evert never doubted. Before Simona Halep was notified on Tuesday that her four-year ban for testing positive for the substance Roxadustat had been reduced to just nine months. The great thing for Halep was that she had already served that time so she could return to playing professional tennis immediately. But Evert often wrote on social media that she thought Halep’s suspension was far too harsh.

As it turns out, Evert was correct. In fact, Halep’s ban was simply by strict reading of the rule of players testing positive and it failed to look at intent. Halep was not in charge of her diet as her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, was. Mouratoglou even admitted to giving Halep tainted collagen which appears to have been the source of the Roxadustat.

While Halep was fighting her ban, her coach had no repercussions and went on with life as normal. This was one aspect that previously irked Evert about the ordeal Halep was going through. The tennis great implied the coach should have been disciplined as well. And, well…she is right.

Chris Evert praises Simona Halep being set free
But after learning that Halep’s ban had been lifted on Tuesday, Chris Evert immediately responded to a tweet on the issue and she did not hold back in her succinct comments. Evert wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) “happy for her! always believed in her innocence!”

Many are too quick to judge if a person receives discipline for something. It is easy to forget one is innocent until being proven guilty and Halep was never found guilty in the sense that all of the issues surrounding the reason she ingested Roxadustat were fully investigated. There was a failed test and what happened around the test, but not how Halep’s coach accidentally gave her the substance.

Thankfully, there are people like Evert who weigh issues and make decisions based on all facts. Evert’s reaction to Halep’s ban being lifted is just another reason to like Evert. And justice too.