{"id":377821,"date":"2024-03-20T04:02:20","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T05:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=377821"},"modified":"2024-03-20T06:03:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T06:03:22","slug":"i-didnt-cheat-halep-v-wozniacki-after-frosty-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=377821","title":{"rendered":"'I didn't cheat': Halep v Wozniacki after frosty return"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\ufeffimona Halep<\/a> has hit back at her critics following her return to professional tennis with a wild card entry at the Miami Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Halep stepped onto the court for the first time in 568 days on Wednesday after her high-profile doping ban was reduced on appeal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the two-time grand slam champion was cleared for immediate return to competition after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned the Tennis Integrity Agency's decision.<\/p>\n

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\"Simona<\/p>\n

The Miami Open then handed Halep a wild card invitation that allowed her to enter the tournament's field.<\/p>\n

CAS accepted that Halep was not entirely at fault for her positive doping test at the 2022 US Open, which initially led to a four-year suspension.<\/p>\n

In her first tour match since the opening round at Flushing Meadows 18 months ago, Halep was defeated 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 by Spaniard Paula Badosa.<\/p>\n

Halep looked strong early, breaking Badosa in the third game of the match before steamrolling the first set.<\/p>\n

However, she soon came across trouble, calling for the trainer during a changeover late in the second set to receive treatment on her right shoulder.<\/p>\n

After being knocked out of the tournament, Halep flashed a brief smile and waved to the crowd as she exited the court.<\/p>\n

\"Simona<\/p>\n

But her \ufeffconsolation was short-lived as former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki<\/a> said players who had tested positive for doping should not be awarded wildcards by the big tournaments.<\/p>\n

"I understand \ufeffwhy 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 cards after [testing positive for doping]," Wozniacki said following her first-round win in Miami.<\/p>\n

"If you want to come back, and it's been a mistake, I understand. [But] you should work your way up from the bottom.<\/p>\n

"That's my personal opinion on things."\ufeff<\/p>\n

In response, Halep \ufeffdefended herself and the court's decision to reduce her ban, citing involuntary consumption<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't cheat. I didn't dope," she said.<\/p>\n

\"Simona<\/p>\n

\ufeff"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.<\/p>\n

"Thank you to the tournament for giving me the wild card and the possibility to play in such a big tournament. It was great to be back.<\/p>\n

"Only one person being negative about me is not that important because I have hundreds of people who are giving me love, so I will take that."<\/p>\n

Halep tested positive for the banned blood-booster roxadustat\ufeff.<\/p>\n

She successfully argued that any doping was unintentional and was able to prove that the failed test was caused by exposure to a contaminated nutritional supplement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

S\ufeffimona Halep has hit back at her critics following her return to professional tennis with a wild card entry at the Miami Open. Halep stepped […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":377823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=377821"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":377827,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377821\/revisions\/377827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/377823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=377821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=377821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=377821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}