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Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep will return to tennis on the Miami Open later this month after having her four-year doping ban decreased to 9 months.
The 32-year-old Romanian participant has accepted a wildcard entry into the event, which begins on March 17.
Halep's unique punishment was decreased after an attraction to the Court docket of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“I'm thrilled to inform you all that I'll be again in two weeks,” she stated Thursday.
“Thanks to the event for giving me this chance and I can't wait to get again on the court docket and compete.”
Halep, who received the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon the next yr, has not performed competitively because the US Open in August 2022 attributable to a failed doping check at Flushing Meadows.
Halep examined constructive for roxadustat – an anti-anemia drug that stimulates the manufacturing of crimson blood cells within the physique.
In Might 2023, he was once more charged by the Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company (ITIA) – this time for irregularities in his Athlete Organic Passport (ABP).
An impartial tribunal dominated that Halep had doped “knowingly” and banned her for 4 years.
Halep appealed in opposition to the choice, and on Tuesday it was introduced that her case had been partially upheld and the CAS dominated that “on the stability of possibilities” she had not knowingly taken roxastat.