Simona Halep fires shot at Caroline Wozniacki over wildcard entry row in Miami Open, says 'I'm not a cheater'
Simona Halep fires shot at Caroline Wozniacki over wildcard entry row in Miami Open, says 'I'm not a cheater'
Former Wimbledon champion and World No. 1 Simona Halep has fired shots at compatriot Caroline Wozniacki after she spoke on the former’s wildcard entry in the ongoing Miami Open. The WTA 1000 event in Miami saw Halep being awarded a wildcard to mark her return to tennis having been initially banned from playing for testing positive in a dope test in 2022. However, after a successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS), her ban was reduced paving the way for a return to the sport and facingPaula Badosa at the Miami Open on Tuesday (Mar 19).
Halep returns to tennis action
Halep’s return to the court did get off to a good start after she outsmarted former World No. 2 Badosa in the first set on Tuesday (Mar 19). However, Halep was then taken down to earth after she lost back-to-back sets and was beaten 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. After the match Halep addressed the media having returned to action after 18 months, the Romanian opened on the claims made by Wozniacki and feels she has not done anything wrong.
"I didn't do anything wrong," said Halep. "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," saidHalep.
"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 wildcard and have the possibility to play in such a big tournament. It was great to be back,” the Romanian added.
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ALSO READ |Tennis: Simona Halep's return from doping cut short by Paula Badosa at Miami Masters
What did Wozniacki say?
Wozniacki had earlier claimed that players do not deserve wildcards who have been found guilty in dope tests. According to Wozniacki, she was not targeting the 2019 Wimbledon champion but wanted a fair and clean sport.
"I've been very outspoken in the past how I feel about doping and all of that," said Wozniacki, adding that she likes Halep. "I have always wanted a clean sport, fair for everybody. I think it's definitely still my opinion.
"This is not directly at Simona, but if someone purposely cheats, if someone has tested positive for doping it's my personal belief that I don't think people should be awarded wildcards afterwards,” Wozniacki said while addressing the Halep wildcard.
