“I’m happy to be back” – Halep returns in Hong Kong

Former world No 1 Simona Halep returns to the tour this week at the WTA 125K Hong Kong Open, only her third tournament back after her doping ban was cut short earlier this year.

Halep was last seen on the court in May and the Romanian is 0-2 in her comeback. She will hope to kickstart her latest comeback on a winning note as she meets Arina Rodionova, of Australia, in the first round.

The two-time Grand Slam winner was scheduled to return to the tour only later this month but was feeling confident enough in her preparations to prepone her comeback.

I had been playing every day for one month already and doing work to get stronger, so I felt good and ready.

Simona Halep

“I had been playing every day for one month already and doing work to get stronger, so I felt good and ready,” Halep said as quoted by the South China Morning Post. “But you never know during matches – it’s different with the practice, so I just want to take it slow to see how it’s going to be like. Hopefully it’s a good one and I can start very well the second part of my career.”

“It’s been two years and it’s not easy to come back after such a long period, but I’m happy to be back,” the Romanian said. “It’s good to see the colleagues and the tour again, and it’s good to see all the people that I was growing up and playing with for 15 years, almost beautiful.”

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