Romanian tennis star Simona Halep receives wild card for Australian Open
<p>Romanian tennis player and women’s former world no. 1 Simona Halep has received a wild card for the qualifiers of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of 2025, the competition's organizers announced.</p>
<p>Simona Halep, currently ranked 877, has not participated in a tournament in Australia in three years due to her August 2022 doping ban, which was <a href="https://www.romania-insider.com/simona-halep-doping-ban-reduced-march-2024">lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport</a> in March 2024. The court found that Halep did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules and that the substance entered her body after consuming a contaminated supplement.</p>
<p>Halep’s comeback has not been <a href="https://www.romania-insider.com/romanian-simona-halep-defeated-first-game-miami-2024">very successful</a>, so the wild card gives her a major chance at climbing the rankings. Her last official match was on October 28, when she was eliminated in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>"The Australian Open has given me some of the best moments of my career, so I can’t wait to return to Melbourne and play in front of the Australian fans," the Romanian tennis player said. </p>
<p>Halep, now 33, was a finalist at the Australian Open in 2018, where she was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki.</p>
<p>The Melbourne tournament in January marks the first Grand Slam event where Simona Halep has received a wild card. </p>
<p><em><a href="mailto:radu@romania-insider.com">radu@romania-insider.com</a></em></p>
<p><em>(Photo source: Australian Open on Facebook)</em></p>