Badosa Spoils Halep’s Return At Miami Masters, Venus Falls; Murray v Berrettini, Osaka Today

Simona Halep finally got back on a tennis court in an official capacity after her lengthy doping battle. The former No. 1 got a wildcard into the Miami Masters and early on the Romanian dominated Paula Badosa before fading in a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss.

“It felt really good. I had emotions, but positive emotions,” said Halep. “To see the crowd supporting me so nice gave me a lot of energy. The level of tennis was pretty good. Unexpected, I think, for most of the people.

“At this high level, like Paula played, I think I did a good job today. So I’m happy with the first match coming back.”

Fellow former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki also won, and after she labeled the 32-year-old Halep a cheater.

“First of all, I’ve always liked Simona. We’ve always had a good relationship,” she said after a win over Clara Burel.

“This is not directly at Simona, but if someone purposely cheats, if someone has tested positive for doping,” she said. “I understand why 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 wild cards afterwards.”

Halep responded, “Why did she say that? 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.”

Venus Williams was also in action but the 43-year-old future Hall of Famer suffered her fourth straight defeat (seventh in her last eight), losing to Diana Shnaider 6-3, 6-3.

Today, the women conclude the first round with Sloane Stephens battling fellow former Slam winner Angelique Kerber. Naomi Osaka is also in action and Karolina Pliskova meets Donna Vekic.

The men open play with Andy Murray taking on Matteo Berrettini. Berrettini leads 3-2. After a 6-match losing streak, Murray is 3-3 in his last six matches.

Rising American stars Darwin Blanch and Alex Michelson are also featured.

WEDNESDAY MIAMI MASTERS SCHEDULE
Stadium – 12pm
Sloane Stephens (USA) v [PR] Angelique Kerber (GER)
Tomas Machac (CZE) v [WC] Darwin Blanch (USA)
Andy Murray (GBR) v [PR] Matteo Berrettini (ITA)

7pm
[PR] Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA)
8:30pm
Alex Michelsen (USA) v [Q] Lukas Klein (SVK)

Grandstand – 11am
[PR] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) v Luciano Darderi (ITA)
[PR] Shelby Rogers (USA) v [WC] Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE)
2pm
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) v Donna Vekic (CRO)
Sofia Kenin (USA) v [Q] Katie Volynets (USA)
Marcos Giron (USA) v Dominik Koepfer (GER)

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