Simona Halep was accused by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in 2022 of taking the illegal substance roxadustat. The former WTA ranking leader was banned from the game and did not appear on the court for 568 days. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) finally reduced her sentence from four years to nine months.
Halep returned to the court in March because she received a wild card for the Miami Open. However, she lost there in the first round to Paula Badosa 6:1, 4:6, 3:6 and disappeared for the next two months. In May, she took part in the Challenger in Paris, but was defeated 7-5, 2-3 by McCartney Kessler. – My mind has always told me that I want to come back as soon as possible, but I am not a machine, I am a human and I need time – Halep said at the time.
Simona Halep returns to the court. She announced her start in the WTA 125 tournament
Another four months passed and the former WTA ranking leader finally announced that she would play in the tournament again. It will be the WTA 125 tournament in Hong Kong, scheduled to start on September 30. At the same time, she published a video in which she told her fans the happy news.
– Hello, I decided that today is a good day to share the information that I'm returning to the court sooner than I expected. Tomorrow I fly to Hong Kong to compete in the WTA 125 tournament. A big thank you to the organizers for the wild card. I can't wait to see you, Halep said in the video.
The tournament will start on September 30, with the final scheduled for October 6. For now, it is not known who Halep will play against in the first round. Interestingly, the Romanian celebrated her 33rd birthday on September 27 and announced her return to the court a day later.