Andy Roddick recalled a situation from 2017 in which Simona Halep made comments very similar to those Caroline Wozniacki made about her recently.
A few days ago, Wozniacki was asked about her view on Halep getting a wild card so soon after her suspension was reduced to nine months. She shared that players who were suspended shouldn’t be given wild cards as they should prove themselves the hard way.
Those comments were completely dismissed by an irritated Halep, who reaffirmed that she didn’t dope intentionally. As true as that might be, the Romanian made comments similar to those of Wozniacki many years ago when Maria Sharapova found herself in a similar situation.
When the Russian returned in 2017, she was given wild cards, and Halep didn’t think she deserved them. Wozniacki made the same comment for her, but now the Romanian has a different viewpoint.
Andy Roddick discussed that on a recent episode of his Served with Roddick podcast, when he talked about the situation with Kim Clijsters.
“The thing that throws this thing into a little bit of a weird area is that Halep was on record in 2017 when Sharapova came back after time served and was given a wildcard saying, ‘Absolutely, under no circumstances, you know, someone who has tested positive, should be allowed wildcards.”
Halep obviously didn’t dope intentionally, as her team made a mistake in giving her a contaminated supplement. In that sense, Kim Clijsters believes the situation to be unique. Had she doped intentionally, she would have agreed with Wozniacki and Roddick, who don’t believe wild cards are warranted.
“When somebody tests positive very strongly for something that is taken because you want to become a better athlete, yes 100 percent I agree with what Caroline says, they need to start from the bottom, work their work up, be clean, get tested often, and work your way back to the top. In Simona’s case, her team made such a big mistake.”
Of course, Roddick himself explained well recently why she was given a wild card, and it’s simply business. As an event, the Miami Open made a smart business move, and that’s what it comes down to most of the time.
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