Simona Halep was defeated by Paula Badoza in the first round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami, and L’Equipe analyzed the first match played by the Romanian since the doping scandal that caused her to be sidelined for a year and a half.

>> VIDEO Simona Halep was defeated by Paula Badoza after returning to the WTA tournament – Encouraging performance of the former world leader

Difficulties at work doomed Simona Halep to Paula Badosa, explains L’Equipe

The French newspaper explained that the difference in the match on the podium was caused by problems Halep had at work and shoulder pain, which caused the Romanian to ask for a medical time-out.

Originally banned for 4 years for doping, Simona Halep took advantage of a reduced sentence to return to the track on Tuesday in Miami. Her comeback ended with a defeat by Paula Badosa (1-6, 6-4, 6-3), writes lequipe.fr.

569 days after her last match at the 2022 US Open, Simona Halep returned to the court on Tuesday. Between New York and Miami, where she revived her career thanks to a wild card, the Romanian was caught by the anti-doping patrol and banned for four years before seeing her sentence reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in early March . The former world number one was able to resume her career immediately after, but her difficulties at work condemned her to Paula Badoza (1-6, 6-4, 6-3),” writes lequipe.fr.

The 32-year-old Romanian, visibly in shape, needed only a few points to get back into rhythm, while the Spaniard, who has been plagued by back problems for some time (she withdrew from the tournament before Indian Wells), was the one who seemed out of shape .

However, Halep became increasingly erratic on her serve (10 double faults throughout the match) and, with visible pain in her right shoulder, required physiotherapy at the end of the second set.

The massage, which lasted several minutes, did nothing to change the fate of the set, nor did it revive the Romanian, who was beginning to show serious signs of frustration. After breaking very quickly in the deciding set, she came back to take her opponent’s serve, but the respite was short-lived and she was able to shake her head in frustration on the bench again after losing the first game again. Badosa didn’t give up the reins this time, despite a left leg scare in the last few games.

In the next round, she will face a special match against one of her closest friends on the track, Aryna Sabalenko, who has just lost her partner,” writes L’Equipe.

>> WTA Miami: Paula Badoza reacts to the return of the Romanian to the court after the victory over Simona Halep

Find out after the match between Simona Halep and Paula Bados

• Simona Halep will receive a check for $23,250 and 10 points in the world singles ranking (she ranks 1140th in the Live hierarchy) for being in the main draw of WTA Miami.

• Paula Bados (80 WTA) should play in the second round. Aryna Sabalenko (2 WTA), if the player from Belarus does not decide to withdraw (after the death of her lover).

• This is Paula’s first victory over Simona. In the first meetings (both took place in 2022), the Romanian won: 6-3, 6-1 in Madrid and 6-1, 6-2 in Wimbledon.

• After Simona Halep and Ana Bohdan eliminated, Romania has only two representatives in Miami: Jacqueline Christian (first round – match with Diana Parry) and Sorana Kirstia (second round – match with Sloane Stephens or Angelique Kerber).

• Simona Halep played her last official match on August 29, 2022. At the US Open, in the inaugural round, our athlete unexpectedly defeated Daria Snigur (at that time she was ranked 124th in the WTA qualification ranking).

• 18 months of nightmare followed for the former WTA leader – she was banned for 4 years for two separate violations of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP): the presence and use of the substance roxadustat in a urine sample collected after an anti-doping test. test conducted at the US Open 2022 (1) and irregularities in his biological passport (2). Halep appealed to the CAS, which reduced her sentence to 9 months.

The result of the match between Simona Halep and Paula Bados

Statistics of the match Simona Halep – Paula Bados

Aces: 5-5

Double faults: 10-6

Points played on the first serve: 63% – 60%

Points won on the first serve: 72% (43/60) – 78% (38/49)

Second serve points won: 31% (11/36) – 33% (11-33)

Winning shots: 18-35

Unforced errors: 39-53

Break points won: 80% (4/5) – 36% (4/11)

Total number of scored points: 87-92

Duration of the match: 1 hour 58 minutes.

Simona Halep – Paula Badosa, 2-1 in straight matches

2024, Miami: 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 for Badosa

2022, Wimbledon: 6-1, 6-2 for Halep

2022, Madrid: 6-3, 6-1 for Halep.

The WTA 1000 category tournament will be held in Miami from March 19 to 31. Played on hard surfaces, the main draw features 128 players and a total prize pool of $8,995,555. The champion of the overall title is Petra Kvitova (she is pregnant and will not participate in this year’s edition).