Simona Halep beaten by Paula Badosa on return from doping ban

Simona Halep, the former world No1 and Wimbledon champion, returned to competitive tennis with a creditable display against Paula Badosa before going down in three sets.

Halep was making her comeback after the 18-month drama of her positive doping test – collected at the 2022 US Open – had eventually resulted in a partial exoneration by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Given that she hadn’t played a tour match for 568 days, Halep’s start was remarkably smooth, as she snatched the first set from the erratic Badosa by a 6-1 margin.

From there, though, she began to feel the physical strain, calling the trainer to attend to soreness in her serving shoulder. Playing on a match court is a different experience to practice, one that cannot be simulated in training. And as Badosa picked up the pace, surging towards her eventual 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory , Halep’s energy levels visibly waned.

Nevertheless, it will probably feel like a win for Halep to have been participating in the Miami Open in the first place. In September, she had been served a four-year ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, who found her guilty on two counts: not only of using Roxadustat, a chemical normally used to treat anaemia, but also of showing irregularities in her biological passport.

Given that Halep is 32, the ruling seemed likely to have ended her career. In an interview at the end of last year, she admitted that she would probably not play again unless she could overturn the verdict. And that is largely what happened after three days of CAS hearings in February, in which the independent panel ruled that she had been the unknowing victim of a contaminated nutritional supplement.

Sabalenka makes Miami Open decision

As for Badosa, she will now progress to a second-round meeting with world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who has somehow found the strength to commit to the Miami Open despite the tragic death of her boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov on Sunday night. The Miami-Dade police department has judged Koltsov’s death to have been an “apparent suicide”.

Caroline Wozniacki spoke movingly about Sabalenka’s situation on Tuesday, saying “I can’t even imagine what she’s going through right now. I’m saying that. I’m also tearing up. It’s such a terrible situation.

“I love Aryna,” Wozniacki added. “I think she’s such a great person. She’s always so happy and out there. To see her go through that, it’s heartbreaking. Everybody grieves in a different way. She was walking past today. I was giving her her space. I let her know that if she ever needs anything, I’m here, we’re here for her.”

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