"Starting to get sick of this, no one has an agenda towards Simona Halep" - Fans react to Darren Cahill giving clean chit to Romanian in doping saga
Darren Cahill recently took to Twitter to reiterate his support for Simona Halep, amid the International Tennis Integrity Agency's (ITIA) ruling against the Romanian.
The ITIA judgment imposed a four-year ban from professional tennis for Halep. An interim suspension had been in effect since the 2022 US Open, which was when the former World No. 1 was first accused of doping offenses.
The ITIA claimed that during a drug test at the 2022 US Open, Simona Halep tested positive for the prohibited chemical roxadustat. They also later detected discrepancies in her Athlete Biological Passport.
Darren Cahill, former coach of the now 31-year-old Romanian, has spoken out once again in favor of Halep. Cahill was among the first people to come out in support of his former protege, voicing his opinion on X (formerly Twitter) back in May.
"I stand by every single word of my original statement way back in October. My belief and support of Simona is unwavering," Daren Cahill wrote back then. "I look forward to her having the chance to present her case to the independent panel asap."
The Australian coach once again took to X on September 20 to urge 'Romanian Tennis', a fan account that covers Romanian players on tour, to continue standing behind Simona Halep. He encouraged the account to remain steadfast in their belief in Halep, and emphasized that the CAS is the rightful arena to settle the matter.
“keep the faith young fella. Simona didn’t do any of what’s been suggested in that report. CAS has always been the proper place to hear this case. Keep up the great work”, he wrote.
Many tennis fans, however, reacted negatively to Cahill's comment. One Twitter user called out the Australian for his opinion and expressed disappointment at the support Simona Halep has been receiving from the tennis fraternity.
“I'm starting to get a bit sick of this. Literally no one has an agenda towards Halep or wants her to be banned for doping. You would think a coach who claims to love the sport would want it to be clean and wouldn't spend his time trying to defame the sport's drug testing body," they tweeted.
Another tennis fan was taken aback by the fact that professional tennis players were siding with Simona Halep and disputing the ITIA ruling. They also questioned Darren Cahill's involvement in the case.
“I rly wonder what the big names in tennis so openly backing Halep and outright claiming the report is a lie will do if/when CAS doesn’t overturn the verdict. What does Cahill actually know about the ins and outs of this case when he wasn’t coaching her at the time?” they wrote.
One account voiced their anger at Halep's former coach and asked him to revisit the detailed ITIA report.
"Simona didn’t do any of what’s been suggested according to…you?, Baby I take it you didn’t read the 126 page report…go ahead and do that for me," they wrote.
Here are few more reactions:
Simona Halep on Darren Cahill: “It’s been a great relationship and he's still my friend”
Simona Halep holds Darren Cahill in high regard, cherishing their past collaboration even though they went their separate ways in September of 2021.
Halep climbed to the No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings and snagged the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon crowns while under Cahill's wing. The Australian also guided the likes of Hewitt and Agassi in the past.
In a chat with NCA NewsWire, Simona Halep said she cherished her ex-coach for being her guiding light, both on and off the tennis court.
“It’s been a great relationship and he’s still my friend and we are friends. He was kind of my family, so I cannot just call him a coach. He taught me many things outside the court; how to live easier, how to live more relaxed, like all the Australians do," she said.
Halep went on to thank Darren Cahill, acknowledging that he was a key component to her success on the tour.
“I won the Grand Slam that I really wanted and I jumped to the next level with his help, so always I will be very thankful to him," she added.