British player Tara Moore crowdfunding to rebuild career after 19-month ban overturned

Simona Halep hit the headlines earlier this week when she began her comeback to the WTA Tour.

The two-time slam champion and former world No 1 was free to return after her four-year ban for a failed drug test and a charge relating to adverse findings in her athlete biological passport was reduced to eight months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Miami Open happily offered Halep a wildcard and the Romanian can be expected to receive plenty more wildcards in the coming months as she looks to establish herself in the women’s game, having last played in September 2022.

It’s still likely to be a long road back for Halep, but others in similar situations are not so lucky.

Moore’s 19 months of misery

British player Tara Moore was ranked a career-best No 77 when she was provisionally banned after testing positive for nandrolone metabolites and boldenone in Bogota in May 2022. Moore always pleaded her innocence and in December 2023, after 19 months, an independent tribunal ruled that she’d ingested the drugs through contaminated meat and therefore, “bore no fault or negligence”.

Unlike Halep – or another former world No 1, Maria Sharapova, when she returned from a 15-month drugs ban in 2017 – the 31-year-old Moore, best-ranked No 145 in singles, will not have the help of wildcards into big events.

Instead, the Briton is now battling to restore her reputation and work her way back onto the WTA Tour, and has decided to crowdfund in order to help her pay for the costs and expenses she will need.

MOORE WOULD LIKE ranking RESTORED

Like Halep, and Sharapova, Moore starts from scratch, with no ranking points. That means she’ll have to start at the very bottom and work her way up.

“Hi guys, as you all know, my journey the last 2 years has been an interesting one to say the least,” Moore writes on her crowdfunding page. “From being suspended and treated guilty until proven innocent, to losing my ranking of 77WTA. I am now exonerated and feel mentally ready to take back my Grand Slam positions.

“For those of you who don’t know, tennis is an INCREDIBLY expensive sport. A coach alone could cost 3-5k a week let alone a good fitness trainer and physio to help with the hard training you’re doing. That’s why ANY LEVEL OF SUPPORT HELPS! Even if you think it’s not much or it’s not going to make a difference, it will as every penny will go towards my training and expenses such as food, travel, and ongoing legal fees.

“Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully you’ll see me soon at Wimbledon again, who knows, maybe I’ll take you all there.”

Moore believes she – and players in her situation – to have her ranking reinstated or at least be allowed to use a protected ranking, something backed up by many famous names in the game including Billie Jean King, Judy Murray and Halep’s former coach, Darren Cahill, now the coach of Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner.

Earlier this week, a WTA spokesperson told Reuters that the WTA is considering introducing special rankings for returning players who have been cleared of doping offences.

The BBC reported in January that the ITIA is challenging the ruling in Moore’s case. The Briton is currently training ahead of her return.

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