In Miami, Badosa stops Halep’s comeback; Venus Williams is defeated

Paula Badosa defeated two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Miami Open to put an end to her comeback.

The Badosa has not triumphed since February’s Doha. The 80th-ranked player in the world has had injury problems. She is now 5-5 on the year.

But Halep made a triumphant comeback to the WTA Tour after an 18-month hiatus.

The highest court for international sport, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), lowered her tennis penalty two weeks ago to nine months, or time served. James Blake, the tournament director of the Miami Open, offered Halep a wild card after the decision.

In the meanwhile, Diana Shnaider defeated the three-time winner Venus Williams 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 19 minutes to terminate the record 22nd participation of Williams at the Miami Open.

The competition had a lot of contrasts. Shnaider, 19, is one of six adolescents competing in the 2024 main draw; Williams, 43, is the oldest competitor.

Williams was participating in her 85th main-draw match in Miami, setting a new tournament record (this time shared with her sister Serena); Shnaider, on the other hand, was making her first-ever main draw match after losing to Laura Siegemund in the first round of qualifying in her debut last year, according to WTA.

However, out of the three past Grand Slam winners, only Danish player Caroline Wozniacki, the 2018 Australian Open champion, made it to the second round of the Women’s Singles event.

The Danish Wild Card defeated France’s Clara Burel 6-1, 6-4 in only 1 hour and 17 minutes. She will now play Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina to go to the third round.