Simona Halep has been awarded a wildcard for the WTA 125 tournament in Oeiras, Portugal, where she will get her footing on clay before the Mutua Madrid Open later this month.
The 32-year-old Halep returned to the Hologic WTA Tour last month at the Miami Open, following a reduction of her four-year ban to nine months upon appeal. Despite narrowly losing her first-round match to Paula Badosa, the Romanian wildcard departed the tournament with a positive mindset, grateful to be back on the court. However, not everyone supports the decision to grant wildcards to players returning from doping bans.