Simona Halep, described this as “disastrous” and the “most tough” aspect of her suspension. However, the two-time Grand Slam champion insisted she did not hate tennis at any stage as it remained her passion.
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The Romanian made her comeback to tennis earlier this week as a wildcard at the Miami Open. She was eventually beaten by Spaniard Paula Badosa in a three-set opening round match.
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The 32-year-old had been unable to compete since the 2022 US Open due to an initial suspension and subsequent ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). She was banned after testing positive for banned substance Roxadustat during the New York major.
The ban was reduced to nine months last month after Halep appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). It allowed her to to play again with immediate effect as she had already been unable to compete for over a year.
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Simona Halep’s Reaction and Gratitude for Support
In an interview with WTA Insider, Simona Halep revealed how she reacted when she got to know the news of the CAS decision.
“I was talking to my lawyers and I was just smiling. And told them, ‘Guys, the decision is correct.’ I was so happy. Had tears after I finished the call with them,” the Romanian said.
“I was just happy that the truth came out and the decision was fair. So, 18 months of stress were finished, and I was now able to go play tennis. Because the most difficult thing was that I was not able to go to watch a tennis match.”
“This was a disaster for a tennis player. Because I was suspended, I could not even watch a tennis match [at a tournament]. So it was difficult.”
When asked if she resented the support during her ban, Halep replied: “No, I didn’t have that darkness. People were supporting me from the first day until the last one.”
“Seeing that the opponents supported me and they believed that I was clean gave me strength and gave me the positive to keep fighting. So no, I didn’t have that.”
“One person, a very important person to me, told me that I should not hate tennis because tennis did not give me this difficult period. I was thinking about it, and I said, yeah, tennis is still my passion. I love to do this, and I will be back when I have the right decision.”