New Delhi: Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has revealed the reasons that stopped her from returning to competitive tennis after a huge gap following her positive doping results. Halep received a ban of four years after she tested positive for a banned substance named roxadustat at the 2022 US Open and her appearance at the international level was put on hold following that.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency’s ban meant that she would not make a return to the tennis court till 2026 but following her challenge for the same, her ban was was reduced to nine months after which she finally made a return to the court at the Miami Open, where she suffered a first-round loss against Paula Badosa. The tennis player continues he comeback as she has received a wild card for the upcoming Oeiras Open in Portugal, which begins on April 15.

Halep, who travelled to Florida for the Miami Open to participate in a professional tennis match after a gap of 1.5 years, has revealed the reason what stopped her from making a return.

Just ahead of her return, Halep said that she was terrified to make a comeback to the tennis court considering the after effects following a ban for using a banned substance and getting kicked off at the big Grand Slam event. Halep said that she turned to her mother and offered a bit of a confession.

‘I’m very nervous,’ Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion, recalled telling Mom. “I felt like I don’t know what to expect from people in Miami. How it’s going to be — to be in the locker room again. Players’ dining area. All this routine that I didn’t do for almost two years, it looked new for me,” said Halep, whose upcoming tournaments are next week in Oeiras, Portugal, and the week after that in Madrid.

“And, when I arrived on-site, the love that I received from the people that are working for the tournament, the security, and all the people around, and also the players, helped me to just forget everything. And, it felt like I never (was) away,” said the 32-year-old Halep, who has been working with new coach Carlos Martinez.