Fans gave Simona Halep a warm welcome back to tennis at the Miami Open on Tuesday in her first match back from a doping suspension but the Romanian received a frostier reception from former world number one Caroline Wozniacki.There were plenty of cheers and chants of "Si-Mon-ah. Si-Mon-Ah” from excited flag-waving fans during the wildcard’s 1-6 6-4 6-3 loss to Spain’s Paula Badosa, who also complimented the twice Grand Slam champion after the match.But Halep’s return on a wildcard did not sit well with Wozniacki."I’ve been very outspoken in the past how I feel about doping and all of that,” said Wozniacki, adding that she likes Halep. "I have always wanted a clean sport, fair for everybody. I think it’s definitely still my opinion."This is not directly at Simona, but if someone purposely cheats, if someone has tested positive for doping it’s my personal belief that I don’t think people should be awarded wildcards afterwards. If you want to come back, and it’s been a mistake, I understand, you should work your way up from the bottom.”Halep accepted a wildcard into the Miami Open after her four-year ban was cut to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.Former Wimbledon and French Open champion Halep was suspended in October 2022 after testing positive for roxadustat - a banned drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells - at that year’s US Open. Halep vigorously denied the charges against her and was again defending herself on Tuesday against Wozniacki’s comments."I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Halep. "I didn’t cheat. I didn’t dope. So it’s better if we read the decision from CAS that it was a contaminated supplement, it wasn’t doping."I never had something to do with doping. I never doped, so I’m not a cheater."Thank you to the tournament for giving me the wildcard and have the possibility to play in such a big tournament. It was great to be back."Only one person being negative about me is not that important because I have hundreds of people that giving me love, so I will take that.”
March 20, 2024 | 11:58 PM