Simona Halep has struggled since returning to tennis earlier this year, and former world No. 9 Coco Vandeweghe says it is uncertain how much she has left in the tank.
It looked like Halep's career was as good as over after being handed a four-year suspension for testing positive for the banned substance roxadustat. Her coach at the time, Patrick Mouratoglou, gave her the collagen that led to the doping saga.
However, after a long and stressful ordeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced Halep's suspension from four years to nine months in March of this year, and she was allowed to immediately return to the sport.
Halep showed positive signs in her first tournament back at the Miami Open. The two-time Grand Slam winner competed impressively against Paula Badosa but ultimately fell in three sets to the Spaniard.
Unfortunately for Halep, this year has been a struggle since. After not playing for nearly two months, she sustained a knee injury at a WTA 125K tournament in Paris that sidelined her for four months.
The 33-year-old's first tournament after recovering from that injury was at another WTA 125k event in Hong Kong. She won her first match since returning to the sport in the opening round but lost heavily to Anna Blinkova in her following match.
Halep played at this week's Hong Kong Open. Despite producing good tennis in patches against Yue Yuan, she was still beaten quite comprehensively 3-6, 3-6, and never came close to worrying the Chinese player.
The Romanian only managing one triumph at a WTA 125K tournament was not the comeback she would have hoped for, even though injuries have played a significant role in stopping her from building any momentum.
Nonetheless, it remains to be seen if she will get close to the tennis that took her to world No. 1, and Vandeweghe has doubts about whether the 2019 Wimbledon champion can find a high level again.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel's Inside-In Podcast, Vandeweghe acknowledged that Halep has shown some glimpses since her return, but the Romanian's future prospects remain uncertain.
"[I’ve] been seeing some glimpses of Simona Halep up here and there, and trying to see what she still has left in the tank post her drug suspension that she had to fight so hard to reduce and get back onto tour."
"It takes some time, and she’s been going through a couple of hiccups, some injuries here and there, not really feeling her game so well when it came down to it – when we saw her in Miami."
"So it’s definitely going to be a big question mark around Simona Halep of where is she at and also at the end of the year, trying to get a couple of matches before we’re hoping to see her in the Australian Open."
One thing that cannot be doubted is Halep's determination to be successful again after the time she lost during her doping suspension. The 33-year-old will need those qualities to have a chance of rising up the rankings on the WTA Tour.