Serena Williams Appears To Throw Serious Shade At Simona Halep After Romanian Gets Banned For 'Likely Doping'

Simona Halep, the former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner, was given a four-year ban after the tennis star was found to have committed two breaches of the anti-doping program. The findings were released Tuesday and determined that the Romanian had committed “intentional” violations and that “likely doping” accounted for irregularities in testing.

While plenty of fans, media members, and even players reacted to Halep's ban, Serena Williams' five-word response certainly stands out.

Williams took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote "8 is a better number."

It doesn't take an investigative journalist to determine what Williams is implying with her post.

Williams lost to Halep in the 2019 Wimbledon final while seeking her eighth title at the All England Club. While there are no indications at this point that Halep will have to officially retire her 2019 Wimbledon victory, it's clear that Williams is chalking herself up the win given that her opponent was allegedly doping at the time.

Simona Halep Tested Positive For Drug At 2022 U.S. Open

Williams also liked a post from countrywoman Nicole Gibbs following the Halep announcement.

“Such a disappointment when you discover like half of your heroes from your sports days were cheating. Just so so frustrating and makes sports so dumb—not a fair fight and makes you wonder how many are skating by unnoticed (I think probably a lot)," Gibbs' post read.

READ: SERENA WILLIAMS TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN 10 YEARS AGO

Halep tested positive for Roxadustat - a medicine that stimulates production of hemoglobin and red blood cells - at the 2022 U.S. Open.

A collection of 51 blood samples provided by Halep through the ABP program were analyzed. The two-time major winner responded to the four-year ban, declaring she was “shocked” and “disappointed” at the outcome and “refused to accept their decision.”