Romanian tennis star Simona Halep returned to action at the Miami Open after an 18-month-long absence from competitive tennis. She played her first match on Tuesday against Paula Badosa since being handed a four-year ban for breaching the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme. Two weeks ago, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced her ban to 9months. After this ruling, Simona Halep accepted a wild card entry from the Miami Open tournament director, James Blake.

Several fans are excited to see her back. But there are a few of them, who believe that people who were out of the game for a reason shouldn’t be given wild cards for competition. Caroline Wozniacki is one of them. The Danish tennis star gave an interview a few hours ago in which she talked about her hopes of having a clean sport and a fair fight. And, here’s how Halep reacted.

‘I’m not a cheater’ – Simona Halep

During an interview, Caroline Wozniacki stated, “If someone purposely cheats, if someone has tested positive for doping…I understand why a tournament wants a big star in the tournament. But it’s my personal belief and it’s not a knock on anyone…I don’t think people should be awarded wild cards afterwards.” 

On hearing this statement from Wozniacki, Simona Halep gave a reply at the post-match interview. She said, “Yeah, but why? I didn’t do anything wrong, I didn’t cheat. I didn’t dope. So, it’s better if we read the decision from CAS that it was a contaminated supplement, it wasn’t doping.” Simona Halep said she never had something to do with doping and stated, “I never doped. So I’m not a cheater.“

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During the interview she further went on to add, thanking the officials, fans, and everyone around for their incredible support to make way for her comeback. She said, “Thank you to the tournament for giving me the wild card and have the possibility to play in such a big tournament. It was great to be back.” However, the comeback didn’t turn out well for the Romanian, and she was defeated by Paula Badosa.

Miami Open: Caroline Wozniacki Puts Friendship on Backseat to Make a Bold Statement About Simona Halep’s Return to Tennis

The Spaniard defeated the Romanian star by 1-6,6-4,6-3. Simona Halep started well in the match but finished with 10 double faults and saved 7 of 11 break points. What was her reaction to her comeback?

‘I missed this’- Halep on her comeback match

During the post-match interview, Halep’s emotions were reflected in every word she spoke. Simona Halep said, “I missed this. I had emotions, but positive emotions, the crowd supporting me so nice. The level of tennis was pretty good — unexpected for most of the people. I think I did a good job today. I’m happy with my first match coming back. I would rate it as a special day, honestly.” So what are her goals now for this season?

To this Halep replied, that it’s “very early” to say. Simona Halep revealed that she didn’t plan anything and added, “The love for tennis brought me here. I came here and I felt again the love for sport.“

She’s now looking forward to practicing harder and making a stronger comeback in her next tournament. What are your thoughts on Simona Halep’s comeback match?

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