MIAMI, March 20 — Former world number one Simona Halep’s return to tennis ended in a first-round defeat at the Miami Open on Tuesday as she lost 6-1, 4-6, 3-6 to Spain’s Paula Badosa.

Romanian Halep, 32, was playing for the first time since the 2022 US Open after her doping ban was reduced after a successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week.