Simona Halep received a wild card to the WTA tournament in Miami, which starts on March 17, Antena 3 CNN announces.
Simona Halep will return to the court PHOTO EPA
Simona Halep recently received a wild card to the Miami Open tournament, which will start next week, according to the invitation received by the Romanian athlete and obtained exclusively by Antena 3 CNN.
“This letter certifies that the 2024 Miami Open, presented by Itau, part of the ATP and WTA professional tennis circuit, which distributes more than 17 million total prizes, starting on March 17 and ending on March 31, will be held in Miami, Gardens , FL, USA, and will host the 96-player men's and women's singles qualifier beginning on Sunday, March 17, 2024, and the 320-player singles and doubles main event from March 19-31, 2024. I, the Miami Open 2024 Tournament Director, officially invite the above mentioned player (no Simona Halep) and her support team to our tournament,” it is shown in the invitation received by Simona, and signed by James Blake, the director of the Miami Open 2024 tournament.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne accepted the appeal filed by Romanian tennis player Simona Halep and reduced her four-year suspension imposed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to nine months.
“The CAS appeal procedure included intensive trials and a three-day hearing that took place between February 7 and 9 in Lausanne. The TAS Commission interviewed numerous experts and witnesses, most of whom were physically present at the hearing. The panel unanimously determined that the four-year period of ineligibility imposed by the ITF's independent tribunal be reduced to nine months, starting on 7 October 2022, which expired on 6 July 2023. As the period expired before the appeal was lodged at the TAS, the full TAS decided that it was appropriate to issue the order as soon as possible, together with a comprehensive press release'', the TAS press release states.
Simona Halep had been suspended for a period of four years for doping, on September 12, 2023, by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). The ITIA said at the time that an independent tribunal had suspended the former world leader for two separate violations of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP).
