Simona Halep Tells The AP She Was Nervous About Returning To Tennis After Her Doping Ban Appeal

Flying to Florida for the Miami Open, the place she could be enjoying in knowledgeable tennis match for the primary time in 1 1/2 years after a doping ban was lowered on enchantment, Simona Halep turned to her mom and supplied a little bit of a confession.

“I’m very nervous,” Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion, recalled telling Mom.

She wasn’t positive what it will be like — on the court docket or off. And as she prepares to renew what she referred to as her profession’s “second part” throughout a video interview with The Associated Press from her house in Bucharest, Romania, Halep is extra snug along with her environment however not fairly sure how shut she will be able to get to her outdated self as an athlete.

“I felt like I don’t know what to expect from people (in Miami). How it’s going to be — to be in the locker room again. Players’ dining (area). All this routine that I didn’t do for almost two years, it looked new for me,” mentioned Halep, whose upcoming tournaments are subsequent week in Oeiras, Portugal, and the week after that in Madrid.

“And when I arrived on-site, the love that I received from the people that are working for the tournament, the security, and all the people around, and also the players, helped me to just forget everything. And it felt like I never (was) away,” mentioned the 32-year-old Halep, who has been working with new coach Carlos Martinez. “So it was a great feeling, a great energy, and I was really happy deep down that I am, again, part of tennis and part of this sport that I love. So for me, it was a great experience, much better than I expected. And this made me feel that, OK, now I want to go back and do my best and see how good I can be, still.”

Halep as soon as was among the many finest on this planet at what she does. She knew it. Everyone else did, too. The WTA rankings mentioned so: Halep reached No. 1 in 2017 (she is No. 1,144 this week). As did her outcomes: Halep was the runner-up at three main tournaments earlier than breaking via by successful championships on the French Open in 2018 and at Wimbledon in 2019 (defeating Serena Williams within the remaining).

Now it’s tougher for her to know what she’s able to with a racket.

There’s the shortage of matches, even when she was inspired by the one one thus far, a three-set loss to former No. 2 Paula Badosa in Miami on March 19. Questions about her health, a key part of her enjoying model. And whereas she labored whereas barred, it was not straightforward to search out the motivation with out realizing when — or, certainly, if — she’d compete once more.

“It’s been a tough period. … It was difficult to manage, but now it’s a different story,” Halep mentioned. “And I feel relief, I feel the freedom and” — right here, she let loose amusing — “yeah, I am back in business.”

She thought her profession may be completed when she was given a four-year penalty by the International Tennis Integrity Agency for testing constructive for the banned blood-boosting drug Roxadustat on the 2022 U.S. Open, the place she misplaced within the first spherical.

But the Court of Arbitration for Sport dominated in March that Halep’s check consequence was unintentional and attributable to a contaminated complement; the ban was lowered to 9 months, longer than she already had been out of the game, so she was allowed to enter occasions instantly.

“The WTA is very supportive of our anti-doping program and the process that it entails. It is an independent process we support — the findings that come from it — and so I’m very supportive of her return,” mentioned Steve Simon, the top of the ladies’s tour. “I have not spoken with her directly yet or seen her, but I have sent her a note. It is great to have her back and I look forward to hopefully seeing Simona playing some great tennis.”

When Halep was barred — not simply from enjoying however, as she famous, attending tournaments — she didn’t really feel like watching a lot tennis on TV.

Who helped her get via the uncertainty? Family. A handful of buddies. And some present and former gamers who supplied assist, a listing she mentioned consists of Chris Evert, Kim Clijsters, Ash Barty, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova and Carla Suarez Navarro.

The enjoyment Halep will get from competing is what pushes her now, extra so than any specific targets.

Plus, she defined, it’s exhausting to know now what to intention for, each due to the prolonged absence and since, as Halep mentioned, “I’m 32; I’m not that young anymore.”

She does aspire to search out herself within the Top 10 as soon as extra.

“What I went through is not easy. So I cannot forget, like this,” she mentioned, snapping her fingers, “just because I got cleared. There is baggage that probably will stay longer, and I cannot forget, like, one day (to the next) what happened. So I have to handle it better. I have to control my emotions coming back. So there is a (lot) that is not easy. But the joy, I hope, will help me.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis author since 2002. Find his tales right here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)