Simona Halep has returned to professional tennis after ending a shortened doping ban, five hundred and sixty-eight days after she last hit the ball in a major match. In the first round of the Miami Open, the team lost to Spanish player Paola Badosa with a score of 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 and finally came back.
Despite the defeat, the former world number one’s performance marked the first step in her attempt to return to the top level of the sport. Halep has not played since losing to Daria Snigur in the first round of the 2022 U.S. Open – a match in which she tested positive for roxadustat.
Halep was initially handed a four-year ban for banned substances and violations in her Athlete’s Passport. Earlier this month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) significantly reduced the ban, concluding Halep was not guilty of intentional doping. Cass has yet to release their full reasoned decision and explain how her ban was reduced to nine months.
Halep was understandably nervous early on against Badosa, double faulting twice in her first service game. But she soon calmed down, and her excellent stability, movement and depth allowed her to quickly break serve against the errant Badosa and successfully win the first set.
While Badosa is a former world No. 2 with considerable pedigree, the Spaniard has struggled with injuries over the past year, most recently a recurring back injury. Her confidence was quickly apparent as she continued to make unforced errors in the first set, but she gradually came into the match. While Halep was relatively consistent on court, the 33-year-old struggled with her serve, with Badosa taking advantage of her opponent’s diminishing length in the second set.
Halep’s body was not used to the intensity of top-level tennis. She took a medical timeout due to shoulder soreness, and then Badosa won the second set 5-4. Halep looked increasingly tired and made mistakes in the intense final, Badosa took an early break and dramatically held on despite pain in her right foot in the final game.
Halep will next turn her attention to the clay court season, where she will rely on wildcards to compete in top events. The Romanian returned to competition as unranked after finishing seventh in August 2022 after being out of action for over 12 months. The WTA does not allow players to gain protected rankings after being lifted from a doping ban, as they would during an injury or maternity leave.
However, as a former world No. 1 and Grand Slam champion, Halep will have unlimited wild cards when she returns to the sport, while most players only have three main draw wild cards and three qualifying wild cards. It’s hard to imagine Halep having a hard time winning these awards, both because of her status as a Grand Slam champion and because of the visibility her comeback would bring to any tournament that invites her.
Badosa, meanwhile, is scheduled to face Australian Open champion and second seed Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday. On Monday, Sabalenka’s boyfriend, former hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, died in Miami.While Sabalenka did not attend the event’s media day on Tuesday following her bereavement, the Belarusian Tuesday afternoon practice in Miami It looks like she plans to compete.
