World No 1 Iga Swiatek admitted she is "confused" and "disappointed" after Simona Halep was handed a provisional ban for doping and hoped there would be more clarity soon on the future of the Romanian player.
Two-time major winner Halep was provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency this month after she tested positive for the banned blood-booster roxadustat.
Halep was tested during the US Open and both her A and B samples confirmed the presence of the anti-anaemia drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells, much like the prohibited substance Erythropoietin.
"Well, for sure it was confusing to me because I wouldn't expect hearing this news. Simona, from my point of view, seems like a person who always cared about being fair and she was a great example for me," Swiatek said, speaking ahead of the WTA Finals tournament which begins in Fort Worth, Texas on Monday.
Halep had described the ban as the "biggest shock of her life" and denied knowingly taking any banned substance.
"I don't know how it works in terms of the system ... Is she going to be tested a couple of more times or whatever? Hopefully it's going to be more clear for fans and for us," Swiatek said.
"But it's disappointing and she must feel really bad. From my point of view, the most important thing for me is just taking care of myself, being safe always, making my environment more safe and being careful. So we'll do that."
Halep's former coach Darren Cahill, who worked with the former world number one for six years and guided her to her first Grand Slam title, said last week there was "no chance" she had knowingly taken a prohibited substance.
Swiatek, seeded first, gets her WTA Finals campaign underway on Tuesday against Russian Daria Kasatkina in Group Tracy Austin, which also includes American Coco Gauff and France's Caroline Garcia.
Group Nancy Richey - comprising Tunisia's Ons Jabuer, American Jessica Pegula, Greece's Maria Sakkari, and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus - kickstart the tournament on Monday night.
More on Quran memorisation:
LIVERPOOL SQUAD
Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
STAY%2C%20DAUGHTER
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYasmin%20Azad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESwift%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The five pillars of Islam
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
More on Quran memorisation:
