After an extended absence from competition and a challenging battle to overturn a doping ban, Simona Halep returned to the court at the Miami Open. Despite a strong start, the former world No.1 was unable to maintain her momentum and fell to Paula Badosa in a hard-fought three-set match, 1-6 6-4 6-3.
Halep showed no signs of rust in the early stages, swiftly taking the first set 6-1 by breaking Badosa’s serve three times. However, Badosa responded strongly, maintaining a break lead she earned early in the second set and eventually converting her fourth set point to force a decider. Despite Halep’s successful efforts to recover from a break down and level the score at 2-2 in the third set, she couldn’t sustain the necessary resistance, dropping serve twice more.
In the first-round encounter, Halep committed 10 double faults. Still, she managed to keep her unforced errors lower than her opponent, with 39 compared to Badosa’s 53. However, Badosa’s aggressive play saw her hitting more winners, with 35 to Halep’s 18, ultimately contributing to her victory in the match.
The former world No.2 Badosa was an undeniably challenging opponent for Halep, who was playing her first match since the 2022 US Open, even though the two-time Grand Slam champion had previously dominated their head-to-head matchups, losing just seven games across two meetings.
Badosa has faced limited playtime recently, having been sidelined for the entire second half of the 2023 season due to injuries. Her struggles with staying healthy have persisted into this year, hampering her efforts to properly kickstart her 2024 season. Indian Wells was particularly challenging for Badosa, as it marked the third out of six tournaments where she either lost a match via walkover or withdrew after the draw was made. As a result, her ranking has dropped to No.80.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport recently ruled that Halep’s positive test for the blood-boosting prohibited substance roxadustat during the 2022 US Open was not intentional. This decision resulted in a reduction of her doping ban from four years to nine months, a period that expired on July 6, 2023. Halep attributed the incident to a contaminated supplement and fought tirelessly to prove her innocence.
Badosa’s second-round opponent will be her very close friend Aryna Sabalenka, whom she refers to as her soulmate. The second-seeded Sabalenka made a bold decision to play the tournament despite the tragic event that struck her less than 48 hours ago in Miami. Namely, her boyfriend Konstantin Kolsov committed suicide by jumping from a balcony of their hotel in Miami on Monday.
