Alize Cornet acknowledges criticism of Serena Williams after American's supposed dig at Simona Halep over doping ban
Serena Williams' supposed dig at Simona Halep wasn't taken kindly by Alize Cornet after the French tennis player liked a tweet criticizing the former World No. 1's lack of support for Halep.
Simona Halep was recently slapped with a 4-year ban from professional tennis after the Romanian was found in violation of two separate anti-doping rules under the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The two-time Grand Slam champion has been suspended from the WTA since October 2022, owing to her failure to pass the mandatory test for the blood-boosting substance Roxadustat. The Romanian was later charged with another count of doping, with both charges being upheld at an independent tribunal on Tuesday.
However, American tennis icon Serena Williams apparently took a swipe at Halep after the latter's doping ban was made public. The 41-year-old who has endured doping accusations numerous times during her career, took to social media to seemingly target the 2019 Wimbledon champion.
Her comments, though, were denounced by a Twitter user who accused Williams of "throwing shade" at the Romanian star, marking the American's actions as despicable.
"For someone who has won 23 Grand Slams and generally had a career up there with the greats of the sport, Serena throwing shade at a fellow competitor who has gone through a tough time and trying to clear her name off the back of a 4-year drug ban is the lowest of the low."
In light of this, former World No. 11 Alize Cornet recently liked the Twitter user's critical comments for Williams which highlighted the 41-year-old's lack of support for Simona Halep.
Serena Williams took a jibe at Maria Sharapova over her doping controversy in 2020
Serena Williams had seemingly called out Maria Sharapova earlier after the Russian was found guilty of violating anti-doping regulations.
After Sharapova's 2016 Australian Open campaign was cut short in the quarterfinal, the former World No. 1 revealed that she tested positive for consuming a banned substance meldonium, which earned her a 15-month ban.
Although Williams initially lauded the Russian for stepping up and doing the right thing, the 23-time Major winner took apparent potshots at Sharapova in subsequent years.
During a talk show Game. Set. Chat! hosted by Zina Garrison and Chanda Rubin in 2020, the 41-year-old seemingly targeted Sharapova and highlighted that "truth always comes out."
“Lot of the stuff really, genuinely doesn’t affect me. And turns out that when people actually are doing drugs, the truth comes out. And then they get banned for not long enough,” Williams said.