Serena Williams is catching a fade online for something she didn’t do, and it all surrounds fellow player Simona Halep. The consensus world’s greatest tennis women’s player showed off her famous curves in some fashionable images featuring her wearing Valentino on her Instagram when fans began to attack her in the comment section. Serena’s old comments regarding Halep’s doping suspension were resuscitated amid some new information.
Halep, the former world No. 1 player from Romania, had her four-year doping ban reduced to nine months, and now she is eligible to return to competition. This made tennis fans take potshots at Williams, who lost to Halep in 2019.
Williams posted “8 is a better number” on social media after Halep’s doping ban was issued last year. Halep denied Williams her eighth Wimbledon title in 2019, but the post’s timing and the number 8 made many feel that the tennis legend believes Halep’s win over her is linked to the doping saga. Williams had only lost one of her past nine matches against Halep before the 2019 final, which was Halep’s first win over Williams in a Grand Slam.
At last year’s U.S. Open, Halep tested positive for the prohibited substance roxadustat, which increases endurance. As a result, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) suspended her for four years. Following a positive test, a tribunal for Halep was postponed from February until September 2023.
Halep announced that she would appeal the ban and was initially eligible to return to the sport in October 2026. Her team took action, identified the banned drug in her system, and presented evidence at a hearing in hopes of clearing her name.
Many felt that Serena’s post was cryptic and insensitive, and with the suspension lifted, fans wasted no time letting Serena hear it on her platform.
“Serena won’t ever apologise because she doesn’t have the self awareness or the heart,” posted Instagram user @feesfawn in the comments of Serena’s fashion post. “And someone with Simone’s strength and dignity doesn’t need it. Imagine taunting someone who was in the worst moments of her life, you’ve well and truly shown yourself, Serena. Heartless and unkind.”
Another user took a harsh shot at Serena.
“Simona Haelp has won. She was not guilty, Serena Williams,” IG user @sct.sc11 posted in the comments. “You and your husband laughed at her and made jokes about her…What do you think, Serena? You thought she won the Wimbledon against you, doing some dishonest thing, did you? Shame on you!”
On Tuesday, Halep posted a video practicing on the Miami Open courts for her first competitive return since winning her appeal. Let the rivalry continue, even if it is being ignited by the fans and not the players.
