Simona Halep to return at Miami Open after ban reduced
- Published
Simona Halep beat Serena Williams to win the Wimbledon title in 2019
Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep will return to tennis at the Miami Open later this month after her four-year doping ban was reduced to nine months.
The 32-year-old Romanian has accepted a wildcard entry into the tournament, which starts on 17 March.
Halep's original punishment was cut after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
"I'm thrilled to let you all know that I will be making my return in two weeks," she said on Thursday
"Thank you to the tournament for giving me this opportunity and I cannot wait to be back on court and competing."
Halep, who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon the following year, has not played competitively since the US Open in August 2022, having failed a doping test at Flushing Meadows.
Halep tested positive for roxadustat - an anti-anaemia drug which stimulates the production of red blood cells in the body.
In May 2023, she was charged again by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) - this time for irregularities in her athlete biological passport (ABP).
An independent tribunal ruled Halep had "intentionally" doped and gave her a four-year ban.
Halep appealed against the decision, and on Tuesday it was announced her case was partially upheld with Cas saying that "on the balance of probabilities" she had not taken roxadustat intentionally.