Halep returns with a loss to Paula

Miami Gardens: Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep returned to professional tennis after getting her doping suspension reduced on appeal, playing her first match in about 1 1/2 years— a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss to Paula Badosa at the Miami Open.

Halep looked terrific in the first set, then encountered trouble later, including having a trainer massage her right shoulder during a changeover late in the second. She was broken at love in the final game, each point ending with an errant groundstroke: backhand wide, backhand into the net, backhand long, forehand wide. The 32-year-old from Romania, who reached No. 1 in the WTA rankings in 2017, smiled briefly and waved to spectators as she walked off the court.

The score might not have been what she wanted, but she was back competing. “I would rate it as a special day, honestly, considering the period I had. Playing so well, feeling so well on court, feeling so well outside of the court with so many people that are very nice to me and giving me the love. I would say that this day is going to stay very special for me," Halep said.

"Of course, I had many results in the past, big results. But here it's something more than tennis, it's something personal. I really love to see that people are appreciating me beside tennis and beside everything that happened.” Halep had not played on tour since testing positive for the banned drug roxadustat at the 2022 U.S. Open, where she lost in the first round to Daria Snigur of Ukraine 6-2, 0-6, 6-4. A four-year ban that was handed down in 2023 was cut to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport two weeks ago.