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On Monday, October 28, Simona Halep, the former world number one, lost her comeback match on the WTA Tour in straight sets 3-6, 3-6 against Yung Yae of China at the Hong Kong Tennis Open. The first outing for Simona Halep on the global elite tour after recovering from a knee injury, which was suffered on her return to tennis from a doping ban in March of this year, didn’t turn out well, but she vowed to stay patient in her bid to improve her performances.
Notably, in October of 2022, Simona Halep tested positive for banned substance roxadustat, which had taken place at the US Open, resulting in her getting a four-year suspension from tennis. Following this, the Romanian appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in February 2024, and they reduced her ban to nine months, which she had already served.
Simona Halep suffered a knee injury on comeback from doping ban in March this year
It led to Simona Halep making her return to competitive tennis action at the Miami Open in March, which ended in a defeat against Paula Badosa of Spain, and in the aftermath, she was sidelined for months due to a knee injury. With a ranking of 883rd in the world, the former two-time Grand Slam winner was given a wildcard for the Hong Kong Tennis Open, and her campaign ended in a first round defeat.
In the post-match, Simona Halep wasn’t happy with how she played on her return to the WTA tour, but she seemed optimistic about her progression in tennis on her return. The Romanian was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “My level was not bad at all but the opponent played really well and had confidence. I'm not happy with the way I played but it was much better than the previous match.”
Simona Halep also spoke about her future plans in tennis, and remarked, “It depends on the wildcards, but I just want to work harder because I need a stronger body to perform at this level. I will take it slow. I have to give myself patience and try to get better day by day.”
