Halep didn’t receive a main draw wildcard for the French Open and now all the eyes are on Wimbledon.
The Wimbledon organizers provided a politically correct answer when asked about the prospect of Simona Halep receiving a main draw wildcard after her doping ban as they simply stated that the wildcard committee makes those decisions.
After the CAS overruled Halep’s four-year doping ban to a nine-month suspension, the Romanian returned to action at the Miami Open as a wildcard. While Halep’s comeback was mostly welcomed, Caroline Wozniacki drew attention when she questioned whether players returning from doping bans should be helped with wildcards.
Since then, Halep was also awarded with a main draw wildcard into Madrid but she didn’t get one for Rome or the French Open – in both of those tournaments the former world No. 1 was a past champion.
That sparked certain conversations surrounding Halep and many started wondering whether Wimbledon – where the 32-year-old was a champion in 2019 – would give the former world No. 1 a main draw wildcard.
Wimbledon CEO on the possibility of Halep getting a main draw wildcard
“Obviously that’s a hypothetical question. Our wildcard committee meet and make those decisions, they haven’t met. They will be making an announcement about the wildcard decisions on the 19th of June so I wouldn’t want to pre-judge a consideration of the wildcard committee,” Sally Bolton, Chief Executive Officer at The All England Club, said.
Meanwhile, Deborah Jevans, Chair at The All England Club, provided an answer similar to Bolton’s but didn’t close the doors on Halep getting a main draw wildcard.
“Once a player has served any drugs ban, they’re then free to compete in the circuit and as such the wildcard committee would consider that and their performance when considering that wildcard. As Sally said, the wildcard committee will meet and make that determination,” Jevans said.
In 2019, Halep won her first and lone Wimbledon title after beating Serena Williams in the final. In her last Wimbledon appearance in 2022, Halep was a quarterfinalist.