'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Tennis icons Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters recently voiced their opinions on the spat between Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki over the Romanian's wildcard entry into the Miami Open on comeback after the doping scandal.
Halep failed a doping test during the US Open 2022 and was handed a four-year ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in 2023. She, however, got ITIA's decision overturned in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and returned to tennis after getting her ban reduced to nine months.
The Romanian began her journey at the Miami Open 2024 as a wildcard. Notably, Caroline Wozniacki, who also competed at the Miami tourney, opposed the tournament's decision to award Halep a wildcard arguing that the latter's punishment was reduced and not scrapped.
Halep responded to Wozniacki's remarks stating that she didn't dope intentionally. The prohibited substance, Roxadustat, entered her body through supplements administered by her then-coach Patrick Mouratoglou, and his team.
Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters recently held a conversation over the disagreement between Halep and Wozniacki.
Roddick suggested that Halep shouldn't have blatantly opposed Wozniacki's viewpoint because she had made similar comments on Maria Sharapova's situation in 2017.
"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’," Roddick told Clijsters 75 minutes and 35 seconds into the latest episode of the Served With Andy Roddick podcast.
Kim Clijsters approved of Caroline Wozniacki's viewpoint but also sided with Halep claiming the Romanian paid the price for her team's oversight.
"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," Clijsters said.
"I feel Simona Halep was kind of manipulated a little bit" - Andy Roddick
During the same episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, Andy Roddick too felt sorry for Simona Halep. He said [at 1:17:38]:
"On that point, I’ve a lot of sympathy for her because of misplaced trust. We should know, we should test, we shouldn’t blindly trust, she did and I feel she [Simona Halep] was kind of manipulated a little bit."
Roddick further advised Halep to be accepting of her mistake rather than being unapologetic.
"The word intent is weird because you can say, ‘I didn’t dope’, and I think it should be ‘I didn’t intentionally dope’. Because if you test positive, you've taken performance-enhancing drugs," Roddick added.
