Simona Halep loses hard-fought match to Paula Badosa on return to tennis in Miami Open first round

Paula Badosa spoiled Simona Halep’s return to tennis, as she won their first round meeting at the 2024 Miami Open 1-6 6-4 6-3.

The ban was cut down to nine months, meaning she could step on court competitively for the first time since the 2022 US Open.

But after being handed a tough draw, the 32-year-old, a two-time Grand Slam champion, faded against her more match-fit opponent.

Halep initially showed no signs of ring-rust, taking the first set 6-1 in just 38 minutes, firing down some trademark winners as Badosa struggled to find her feet.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, Halep started to tire as the match wore on, a sign of the fact she has gone so long without playing such a high-intensity match.

Her serve in particular was troublesome, as she sent down eight double faults, and after being broken early on by Badosa, eventually lost the second set 6-4, despite making the Spaniard work hard to hold throughout.

The fitness levels of the two players became more telling in the third though, with the Romanian visibly gasping for air after some particularly intense rallies.

She cast a frustrated figure when dropping her second service game to love, and although she immediately levelled, helped by a stunning cross-court forehand en route to making it 2-2, Badosa was growing in confidence.

The 26-year-old, who had lost the two previous meetings between the pair, soon broke again, and earned herself some breathing room when holding for 4-2.

From there, there was no looking back, as she broke again in the final game of the match to set up a clash with world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Elsewhere, Caroline Wozniacki’s fine return to the WTA Tour continued, as she breezed through to the second round.

The 33-year-old eased past Clara Burel with a 6-1 6-4 victory, breaking serve on five occasions throughout the match.

Wozniacki, who won the 2018 Australian Open, retired from tennis in 2018, before making her comeback at last year’s US Open.

There were also wins for highly-rated Czech Brenda Fruhvirtova, who beat Maria Lourdes Carle 6-3 6-3 to set up a clash with British No. 1 Katie Boulter, while veteran Venus Williams lost by the same score to Diana Shnaider.

Home-favourite Taylor Townsend needed three sets to eventually defeat Lucia Bronzetti, and Katerina Siniakova won against Ana Bogdan.