By Ian Chadband
Darren Cahill, the Australian coach who steered Simona Halep to grand slam glory, says there is no way his former charge knowingly took drugs.
Tennis luminaries have come out in force to support Halep’s fight to clear her name, and Cahill has led an impassioned defence, insisting her “integrity is faultless” and concluding, “I stand with Simo”.
The 31-year-old tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat at the US Open. It is the biggest doping case in tennis since Maria Sharapova’s failed test for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
The two-time grand slam champion vowed to clear her name, branding the news “the biggest shock of my life”.
And Cahill, who guided Halep to world No.1 in 2017 and to her 2018 French Open triumph in a six-year alliance, wrote in a long Instagram post on Sunday: “Firstly, and most importantly, there is NO chance Simona knowingly or purposely took any substance on the banned list. None. Zero.
“Simona wore out the words ‘please double check this, triple check this to make sure it’s legal, safe and permitted. If you are not sure, I’m not taking it’.
Darren Cahill advises Simona Halep at the 2019 WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China.Credit:Getty
“We both believe in the ITIA testing program and would often discuss the number of times she was tested, both at tournaments and randomly. She did it without complaint, with the reassurance of knowing other athletes were being tested just as frequently.
“Competing against clean athletes was important to her. Simona’s integrity is faultless, she respects her peers, she loves the game and she always has her feet firmly planted on the ground as a humble, approachable champion.
“I have sat proudly in awe of the person that she has matured into, watching the compassion she has shown others.
“I’m not talking about the stuff that the tennis world gets to see, I’m speaking about the kindness and care that very few are fortunate to experience. The kind of actions that are done for love and not for publicity.
“Honesty has always been her greatest strength and her biggest weakness. We would often laugh about the fact that she can’t act and can’t tell a little white lie. Ask her a question in a press conference and she will blurt out an honest answer. She wears her mood on her shoulder for the world to see, for good and for bad.
“That is Simo. What you see is what you get. She built an amazing career and legacy by doing things the hard way. The right way. I believe in her. I always have and can honestly say never more than right now on this particular issue. I stand with Simo.”
Halep’s partnership with Cahill ended last year and she has been working with another star coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who also offered his support, saying: “I support you 100 per cent in this fight Simona. All the way through.”
Fellow Romanian Billie Jean King Cup players have jumped to her defence while Halep’s former husband Toni Iuruc said in an interview: “I swear to you that this girl, my ex-wife, is obsessed with one thing – honour.
“You can take anything from Simona, if you took away her honour, her fairness, you kill her. She is no longer human. Simona would not have done such a thing even if you had cut off her hand to stop playing tennis.”
AAP
