The former first racket of the world, whose disqualification was previously reduced, will play at the WTA level for the first time in more than a year and a half
Former world number one Simona Halep announced that she will perform at the tournament WTA 1000 in Miami, otherwise known as Miami Open.
The Romanian tennis player will receive a wild card from the event organizers, which will allow her to be included in the main draw.
For 32-year-old Halep, who only recently got the opportunity to return to tennis, this tournament will be the first since August 2022.
Let us recall that in September 2023, Simone was disqualified by the Independent Tribunal for four years for using the prohibited substance roxadustat at the US Open 2022 and inconsistencies in the Romanian athlete’s biological passport (ABP).
The Romanian did not give up, filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and achieved her goal. Recently, CAS reduced the disqualification to nine months – this automatically gave the athlete the green light to return to professional competitions.
In particular, the court found that the prohibited drug entered the tennis player’s blood accidentally due to a contaminated food additive. The judges also took into account that the doping test was taken after the tennis player’s performances at the tournament.
Halep has reached the semifinals of the Miami tournament twice in her career, most recently in 2019. The 2024 Miami Open will take place from March 17 to 31. Competitions in the main draw start on the 19th of the current month.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
