For once, the outcome was not what mattered to Simona Halep.
The former world No 1 knows what it is to stay the course at a tournament; to watch the field slowly dwindle until she is all but alone in the locker room; to hoist the trophy on finals day. She has done it 24 times in her career, most notably at Roland Garros in 2018, and again at Wimbledon the following summer.
But as the 32-year-old Romanian played her first match in 19 months at the Miami Open, where she was beaten 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 by Paula Badosa of Spain, she was just grateful to be playing professional tennis at all.
That looked a remote prospect last September, when Halep was handed a four-year ban after failing a drugs test at the 2022 US Open. But things have moved quickly since the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) ruled earlier this month that she was not guilty of intentional doping, the offer of a wildcard for one of the season’s bigger events proving too tempting to turn down.
“I came just because the boost, the love for tennis, just brought me here,” said Halep. “It was fast, because it was a just few days after the decision, but I’m really happy that I did it. I came here and I felt again the love for sport.”
Perhaps inevitably, Halep’s body struggled to keep pace with her ambition. She required medical treatment on her shoulder late in the second set and, understandably after so long on the sidelines, began to fade physically in the closing stages. But nothing could dampen her mood, and she left the court just as she entered it, smiling broadly and thankful for the support shown by the Miami public.
“I would rate it as a special day, honestly, considering the period I had,” said Halep. “Playing so well, feeling so well on court, feeling so well outside of the court with so many people that are very nice to me and giving me the love, I would say that this day is going to stay very special for me.
“Of course, I had many results in the past, big results. But here it’s something more than tennis, it’s something personal. I really love to see that people are appreciating me besides tennis, and besides everything that happened.”
The one discordant note was sounded by another former world No 1, Caroline Wozniacki, who pointed out that Halep’s ban was reduced rather than overturned, and said wildcards should not be granted in such circumstances.
“I have always wanted a clean sport, fair for everybody,” said the 33-year-old Dane. “It’s definitely still my opinion.
“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 that I don’t think people should be awarded wild cards afterwards.
“If you want to come back, and it’s been a mistake, I understand, but you should work your way up from the bottom. That’s my personal opinion.
“Simona’s situation has obviously dragged on for a long time. She got her suspension reduced. It wasn’t a clearance, it was a reduced sentence. She’s now been off of the game for a while and she’s coming back. Again, I just hope for a clean sport. That’s all I want.”
Having first been suspended on 7 October 2022, Halep was cleared to make an immediate return to the sport after a CAS appeal panel, accepting her argument that the ingestion of a contaminated collagen supplement was behind her failed test, reduced her ban to nine months. But while the panel ruled that she was not guilty of intentional doping, they said she “did bear some level of fault or negligence for her violations, as she did not exercise sufficient care” when using the supplement.
Halep bristled when Wozniacki’s comments were put to her.
“Why did she say that?” asked the Romanian, whose lengthy absence from the game has left her without a world ranking, leaving her dependent on wildcards for the time being. “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 the wild card and the possibility to play in such a big tournament. It was great to be back.
“Only one person being negative about me is not that important, because I have hundreds of people giving me love, so I will take that.”