Former world No. 1 Simona Halep, whose profession stalled attributable to a doping ban that was decreased on enchantment this yr, will step up her comeback on the Australian Open after receiving a wild card for the qualifying occasion on Wednesday.
Halep, 33, was provisionally suspended in October 2022 and later banned for 4 years, a interval which was minimize to 9 months in March following an enchantment on the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport.
Halep, who has denied knowingly taking the banned drug roxadustat, returned to motion in Miami in March. She final competed on the WTA Tour at Hong Kong, the place she misplaced within the first spherical in October.
Editor’s Picks
1 Associated
The 2018 Australian Open runner-up stated she was excited to return to the nation after three years.
“I’ve been working laborious to prepare for the 2025 season,” stated Halep, a former French Open and Wimbledon champion who’s at the moment ranked No. 877 on the earth. “The Australian Open has offered me with a few of the greatest moments in my profession, so I am unable to wait to be again in Melbourne and taking part in in entrance of the Aussie followers.”
In the meantime, Australia’s Cruz Hewitt will look to emulate his father Lleyton by making his Grand Slam debut on the Australian Open after organizers handed the 16-year-old a wild card for the qualifying occasion that precedes the Jan. 12-26 main.
The senior Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion who additionally reached No. 1 on the earth, made his main debut as a 15-year-old at Melbourne Park in 1997 after an impressed run within the qualifying rounds.
