Simona Halep suffers defeat in return match; insensitive to Caroline Wozniacki’s opinion on her return – Firstpost

Simona Halep returned to tennis on Tuesday, losing in three sets to Spaniard Paula Badosa at the Miami Open, then fought back against Caroline Wozniacki after the Dane criticized the decision to give her a wildcard into the tournament.

Former world number one Halep was warmly received by the Miami crowd before fading, losing 6-1, 4-6, 3-6 in her first match since the 2022 US Open.

But while Romanian flags and chants of her name show she retains plenty of support after her doping ban was reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last week, former world number one Wozniacki s There are questions about how Halep was allowed to participate in the tournament.

“It’s not directly Simona, but if someone is deliberately cheating, if someone tested positive for doping… I understand why a tournament wants a big star in the tournament, but that’s my personal belief, and “It’s not anyone’s fault, but I personally don’t think people should be given wild cards afterwards,” the Dane said.

“If you want to come back, and it’s a mistake, I understand, you should work your way up from the bottom. This is my personal opinion on things.

“Simona’s situation has obviously been going on for a long time. She had her suspension reduced. It was not an authorization, it was a reduction of sentence,” she added.

Asked about Wozniacki’s comments, Halep said she did not understand his motivation.

“Why did she say that? I did not do anything wrong. I didn’t cheat. I didn’t do any doping. So it would be better to read the CAS decision that it was a contaminated supplement, it was not doping. I never had anything to do with doping. I’ve never doped, so I’m not a cheater.

“Thank you to the tournament for giving me the wild card and having the opportunity to play in such a big tournament. It was great to be back,” said the 32-year-old.

“One person who is negative about me is not that important because I have hundreds of people who give me love, so I will accept it,” Halep added.

Halep looked like her usual self in the first set, cheered on by a small but passionate crowd, including many of her compatriots, but struggled later in the nearly two-hour contest.

Simone. Halep.@MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/i7BfIoFUS2

– wta (@WTA) March 19, 2024

There were the familiar chants of “Simona” as she broke to lead 4-1 in the first set and the punch showed the level of motivation after her long, enforced absence.

But she needed treatment on her shoulder during the second set and she lost the precision of her serve while appearing more and more tired.

But she was optimistic about her first match after such a long absence from the field.

Positive emotions

What an angle 😮@Simona_Halep fighting hard to stay tight in the 3rd set!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/DjriCKd3Eh

– wta (@WTA) March 19, 2024

“It was really good. I had emotions, but positive emotions. Seeing the audience support me so kindly gave me a lot of energy. The level of tennis was pretty good. Unexpected, I think, for most people.

“At this high level, as Paula played it, I think I did a good job today. So I’m happy with the return of the first match,” she said.

Halep’s career had been on hold since October 7, 2022, when her provisional suspension began after testing positive for roxadustat at the US Open.

The winner of the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon singles titles was then caught up in a second case, this time over “irregularities” in her biological passport data.

She was handed a four-year ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which would have effectively ended her career.

Halep appealed to the CAS in February, arguing that her positive test for roxadustat – used to treat anemia and banned as a blood-enhancing agent – ​​was the result of a contaminated supplement.

The CAS determined that Halep had “established, on the balance of probabilities,” that the prohibited substance did indeed come from the contaminated product and that his violations were therefore “not intentional.”

The CAS also ruled that the “irregularities” cited by the ITIA in Halep’s biological passport, a tool for long-term monitoring of an athlete’s blood indicators that can provide evidence of doping, did not in fact support “the doping scenarios put forward by the ITIA”. »

Halep had proclaimed her innocence and refused to accept the ITIA decision, which would have kept her out of court until October 6, 2026.