Simona Halep to mark tennis return from Doping ban at Miami Open after receiving wildcard

Halep was provisionally suspended following a positive test for banned substance at the 2022 US Open.

Former World No. 1 and 2019 Wimbledon champion, Simona Halep, is set to compete in the Miami Open 2024 later this month. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has cleared her return to competitive tennis after reducing her suspension from four years to nine months.

The 32-year-old Romanian challenged the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s four-year ban, attributing the presence of roxadustat in her system to contaminated supplements. Halep was provisionally suspended on October 7, 2022, following a positive test for the banned substance at the 2022 US Open.

The CAS concluded that Halep’s anti-doping rule violations were unintentional, absolving her of significant fault in the matter.

Halep will now end her 18-month hiatus by accepting a wildcard entry into the Miami Open, starting March 17. The former World No. 1 expressed her excitement on Instagram, thanking the organizers and sharing her eagerness to return to the court.

Currently unranked, Halep will depend on wildcard entries for WTA tournaments. She has reached the Miami Open semifinals twice, in 2015 and 2019, and continues her partnership with coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

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Other notable wildcard recipients in the women’s draw include Emma Raducanu, Venus Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki. Venus Williams, a three-time Miami Open champion, is the only wildcard winner to have previously won the tournament.

Defending champion Petra Kvitova will not participate in this year’s Miami Open due to her pregnancy, announced before the 2024 Australian Open.

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