Simona Halep return date revealed after receiving wildcard

Simona Halep will officially make her return to the WTA Tour at the Miami Open, with the Romanian receiving a wildcard after her doping ban was reduced earlier this week.

Halep had originally been suspended for four years after testing positive for banned substance roxadustat at the 2022 US Open, with the former No.1 later receiving a second charge due to irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport.

This meant that Halep would not have been able to return to the WTA Tour until October 2026, when she would have been 35-years-old.

However, the two-time major winner appealed the decision and had her ban reduced down to nine months after the Court of Arbitration for Sport found the sample in question to be ‘contaminated’.

Halep therefore can return to action imminently and has wasted no time in doing just that, with the Miami Open awarding her a wildcard for the tournament in two weeks time.

The 32-year-old revealed the news on social media, “I am thrilled to let you all know that I will be making my return to the WTA Tour in two weeks at the Miami Open. Thank you to the tournament for giving me this opportunity and I cannot wait to be back on court and competing. See you all soon!”

We are happy to welcome back a great champion of the sport ⁦@Simona_Halep⁩ pic.twitter.com/tEvvCPGwpG

— James Blake (@JRBlake) March 7, 2024

Halep’s best result at the WTA 1000 event came in 2015 and 2019, when she reached the semi-finals.

The Miami Open main draw will begin on Tuesday 19th March, where Halep will play her first WTA Tour match in over a year-and-a-half.

Inside the baseline…

It is somewhat surprising that Simona Halep is returning so soon, with many thinking that the Romanian would comeback for the clay court season. However, Halep probably feels that she wants to make up for lost time, especially as her ban reduction meant that she would have been eligible to compete from July of last year. Despite the understandable excitement surrounding the 2019 Wimbledon champion’s return, it is worth noting that when Maria Sharapova received a wildcard following her doping ban Halep was famously quite critical.

READ MORE: Simona Halep ‘can’t wait to get back on the circuit’ after doping ban reduced

 Join >> Receive $700/£600 of tennis gear from the Tennishead CLUB