Simona Halep returned to tennis earlier this year at the 2024 Miami Open, which she now regrets because it was too early.
The Romanian spent much of the past two years away from the sport of tennis because she was suspended from it. The suspension came after the 2022 US Open, where she tested positive for a banned substance.
Per the rules, the suspension was immediate as Halep prepared to prove her innocence. This process was very complicated because it takes time. However, in her case, they took a lot more time than anybody anticipated, which is why her former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, and some other players spoke in her favor, calling on the relevant agencies to do their job in a proper and timely manner.
Eventually, the four-year suspension was upheld, to the dismay of Halep, who battled the ruling in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). CAS eventually ruled in her favor, reducing her four-year ban to a nine-month sentence, which she had already served in the meantime, as the date of her initial suspension counted as the starting date of the ban.
Just a few days after that, Halep was announced as one of the Miami Open wild card recipients, and she flew to Miami and played a match at the WTA 1000 tournament. It was a solid showing against Paula Badosa, even if she lost in three sets.
Fast-forward to now, and it's a match she regrets playing. Physical problems arose immediately in that match, and she's still battling them and waiting for a chance to play again.
Speaking to We Are Tennis, Halep admitted that it was too soon to come back, but ultimately, the desire to play got the better of her.
"Honestly, it was a mistake to play Miami for my body, because in February when I had the hearing, I didn't practice because I was exhausted, and I was in tension all the time."
"I said, I'm going to recover and I'm going to stay calm. And I didn't do one hour of sport in February. Then going straight to the match, physically was not great."
Despite playing too early being a mistake, Halep doesn't regret everything around that comeback match. One thing that she holds very dear is the way people around the Tour welcomed her back.
Seeing the love from fans and people working at the event was just an exceptional feeling to her because the accusation that she intentionally doped deeply shook her.
Seeing the love from fans and fellow players in Miami proved to her that people believed she didn't dope intentionally, which greatly matters to her.
"But emotionally and mentally, to see all the love from people, I don't know if all were honest, but I took only the positive from them. And to see that they wish me welcome back and stuff like this, it helped my mental, it helped myself to see that people really believed that I didn't do it. So, this was important."
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