'I didn't cheat': Simona Halep hits back at Caroline Wozniacki's wildcard remark

New Delhi: The two-time Grand Slam singles champion and former World No.1, Romanian Simona Halep lashed out at Caroline Wozniacki for her "players tested positive for doping should not be awarded wildcards" comment.

Halep, who returned to action from an 18-month absence from the WTA Tour, received a wild card to the Miami Open after her CAS reduced her four-year ban from tennis to nine months.

The former grand slam winner suffered a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss at the hands of Paula Badosa in the opening round on Wednesday.

On Halep' being awarded a wildcard, Wozniacki highlighted her stance on doping and said players tested positive for doping should not be awarded wildcards afterwards.

"I've always liked Simona. We've always had a good relationship. I've been very outspoken in the past about how I feel about doping and all of that," Wozniacki said in her post-match press conference. "I think my view on doping is the same. I have always wanted a clean sport, fair for everybody. I think it's definitely still my opinion," she added.

"Again, this is not directly at Simona, but if someone purposely cheats, if someone has tested positive for doping… I understand why a tournament wants a big star in the tournament, but it’s my personal belief, and it’s not a knock on anyone, but 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. That’s my personal opinion on things," Wozniacki further said.

Halep argued back to Wozniacki's comment in her press conference and said, "I didn't do anything wrong. 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 a wildcard... 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," she added.

The 32-year-old Halep was handed a four-year ban last September after testing positive for the use of roxadustat - an anti-anaemia drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells in the body.

She filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and later the highest tribunal for global sport reduced her four-year ban to nine months, making her eligible to return to the WTA tour.