Simona Halep made a comeback at the 2024 Miami Open but lost her first match, which, according to former WTA player Kim Clijsters, will be motivational.
Halep's comeback was rushed but ultimately worth it. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling came down with the Miami Open around the corner, and as many predicted, Halep was immediately offered a wild card entry into the event.
Of course, she accepted and made her way to the United States for the tournament, where she would ultimately play only one match. The match she played was against Paula Badosa, and it was a good showing.
She won the opening set but struggled to keep up as the match went on. Badosa would turn around the match and win it, but it was still a good outing for Halep, who looked pretty good for a player who hadn't played in more than a year.
Former player Kim Clijsters watched that match closely, and she thinks that it will ultimately be very motivational for Halep, which she talked about during the most recent episode of the Served with Roddick podcast.
"I'm super happy that she [Simona Halep] was able to play and we got to see her out on court, just to see how happy she was and how excited she was to be out there and the support that she got. I thought it was great and what she deserved."
Halep wasn't match-ready, which was evident as the match went on, but the overall experience will certainly motivate her to put in the work in the next month to be ready for May and the summer, which has a couple of huge events, including the Olympics.
"You can tell that she is not as game-ready as she was a couple of years ago, which is normal. But just the excitement to get back, and I'm sure this is very motivational for her to go onto the clay court season and to prepare really well for the French Open."
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