"I'm very nervous, I don't know what to expect": Simona Halep details feeling on return to tennis at Miami Open

Former world number one Simona Halep has revealed that she was ‘very nervous’ while playing at the Miami Open after spending years on the sidelines. The 32-year-old returned to the court after a gap of more than 15 months as she was banned from taking part in professional tennis activities after being found guilty of using the banned substance Roxadustat during the US Open in 2022.

The Romanian tennis star was earlier banned for four years but later appealed in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which was then reduced to nine months. After her ban was reversed, her first competition was the Miami Open where she lost in the round of 128 to Spain’s Paula Badosa with a score of 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The Constanta-born, who became the world number one back in 2017 and is also a two-time Grand Slam winner, was recently quoted in a report where she revealed that she was ‘very nervous’ while participating in the Miami Open as she was not sure how the players in the locker room would react to her presence after a gap more than one year.

“I’m very nervous, 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,” she said.

“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.”