Simona Halep has fumed at the one-month suspension handed to Iga Swiatek after losing two years of her career to a lengthy ban. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) found Swiatek at the lower end of their "no significant fault or negligence" spectrum after she tested positive for banned substance trimetazidine in August.

The Polish player, who was world No 1 at the time of the positive test, successfully argued that it was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medicine melatonin, which she was taking for sleep issues.

But Halep has been left furious by the decision and accused ITIA of applying a "different approach" to her own case. The Romanian was provisionally suspended in October 2022 and was later banned for four years after testing positive for the banned substance roxadustat.

That suspension was reduced to nine months after Halep appealed in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The 33-year-old has always denied knowingly taking the substance and said she had evidence to show small amounts of the drug entered her system from a contaminated licensed supplement.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Halep wrote: “I'm sitting and trying to understand, but it's really impossible for me to understand something like this. I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment?

“I can’t find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from ITIA, the organisation that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence.

“I really wanted to destroy the last years of my career, I wanted something that I could never have imagined would be wanted. I always believed in good, I believed in fairness, I believed in goodness. It was painful, is painful and maybe the injustice that was done to me will always be painful.

“How is it possible that in identical cases happening around the same time ITIA to have completely different approaches to my detriment. How could I accept that the WTA and the players council did not want to return me the ranking that I deserved?!

“I lost two years of my career, I lost many nights when I couldn’t sleep, thoughts, anxiety, questions without answers... but I won justice. It turned out that it was a contamination and that the biological passport was a pure invention. And I won something else, my soul remained clean!

“I feel disappointed, I feel mad, I feel frustrated, but I do not feel evil even now. I am grateful for the support and unconditional love of those who have been by my side every day. THANK YOU! In all the naughtiness, I also received love because those who offered me love in those moments really knew me!

“Perhaps this is the biggest victory! As we know well that every morning the sun rises for everyone, but it’s good to rise finding yourself with a flawless soul! And that's how I am, packed and proud of what I am!”

Halep returned to action in March at the Miami Open. Meanwhile, Swiatek has already served the bulk of her suspension as ITIA count the procedural time concluding the case. She will be available for the 2025 Australian Open.