Wozniacki suggested that Halep should not be receiving any wildcards but now they are both set to play in Madrid via a wildcard.
Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki have been announced as main draw wildcard recipients for the Madrid Open and it comes just two weeks after the Dane made some pretty harsh comments about the Romanian being given wildcards in her post-doping ban comeback.
On Wednesday, the Madrid Open announced their first set of wildcards for the tournament and two names confirmed happened to be Halep and Wozniacki.
After being handed a main draw wildcard for the Miami Open to play her first tournament in a year and a half, former world No. 1 Halep is now also set to feature in the opening WTA 1000 clay tournament of the year in Madrid.
This week, the clay season officially started. But 32-year-old Halep isn’t competing in any of this week’s opening clay tournaments and she also hasn’t been confirmed for any of the clay events tournaments that will be taking place leading up to Madrid.
If it stays that way and Halep doesn’t accept any wildcards into a tournament leading up to Madrid, the two-time Grand Slam champion will kick off her clay season at the Madrid Open, which starts on April 23rd.
“Muchas gracias (thanks a lot) @MutuaMadridOpen for this wild card opportunity. Madrid has always been a special tournament for me, with happy memories and I’m grateful to be able to make more. See you soon,” Halep wrote on X.
Wozniacki also joins Simona Halep at the Madrid Open
Wozniacki, another former world No. 1, will join Halep in Madrid as the Dane also accepted a main draw wildcard into the clay WTA 1000.
In Madrid, both Halep and Wozniacki enjoyed success in the past.
Halep, who will be making her 12th Madrid appearance this year, is a four-time finalist at Caja Magica. After losing to Maria Sharapova in the 2014 Madrid final, Halep won back-to-back titles at the tournament in 2016 and 2017 before again finishing as runner-up in 2019.
On the other side, 33-year-old Wozniacki enjoyed a very impressive Madrid debut in 2009. That year, Wozniacki reached the Madrid final before Dinara Safina prevented her from winning the title.
For Wozniacki – who ended her retirement of three and a half years in August – this will be her first participation in Madrid since 2019.
Wozniacki spoke out against Halep being awarded wildcards
After the CAS announced on March 5th that Halep won her appeal in her doping ban case and that she was allowed to return to tennis immediately after her ban was reduced from four years to nine months, the Miami Open came through for the Romanian and handed the 32-year-old a wildcard into the tournament.
When Miami started, many players expressed delight at seeing Halep back but Wozniacki suggested that “dopers” shouldn’t be helped with wildcards in their comeback.
“Well, first of all, I’ve always liked Simona. We’ve always had a good relationship,” Wozniacki said.
“I’ve been very outspoken in the past how I feel about doping and all of that. I think my view on doping is the same. I have always wanted a clean sport, fair for everybody. I think it’s definitely still my opinion.
“Again, this is not directly at Simona, but if someone purposely cheats, if someone has tested positive for doping… I understand why a tournament wants a big star in the tournament, but it’s my personal belief, and it’s not a knock on anyone, but it’s my personal belief that I don’t think people should be awarded wild cards afterwards
“If you want to come back, and it’s been a mistake, I understand, you should work your way up from the bottom. That’s my personal opinion upon things.”
“If you want to come back, and it’s been a mistake, I understand, you should work your way up from the bottom. That’s my personal opinion upon things.”
“Only one person being negative about me is not that important because I have hundreds of people that giving me love, so I will take that.”
After Wozniacki called out Halep and the Romanian bluntly responded, now they are both set to feature in Madrid via wildcards.
In the past, both Halep and Wozniacki had certain success in Madrid and their return to Caja Magica will certainly draw attention.
If Halep and Wozniacki were drawn to play each other in Madrid or they managed to set up a meeting at some stage of the tournament, there would certainly be lots of interest and hype going into the match considering their recent history.