Playing on the same court where she celebrated her only victory after returning from a doping ban, Simona Halep fell in straight sets to sixth seed Yuan Yue, losing 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the Hong Kong Tennis Open.
As Halep struggled to find her footing, tallying 19 unforced errors that outweighed her 17 winners, the world No. 45 Yuan hit 22 winners and made only 12 unforced errors. Despite a shaky start to the second set, the Chinese quickly regained her form and closed out the match decisively, winning six consecutive games from 3-0 down to earn a spot in the second round of the WTA 250 tournament.
Former world No. 1 Halep, currently ranked No. 883, made her comeback from a nine-month doping suspension in March, but a left knee injury sidelined her for an additional four months from May until late September. Four weeks ago, she celebrated her first victory since 2022 at the Hong Kong WTA 125 tournament, defeating Arina Rodionova in a three-set match before falling to Anna Blinkova in the second round. However, in this week’s WTA 250 Hong Kong event—her fourth tournament and fifth match of the year—Halep struggled to find her form.
After the loss, Halep found comfort in her progress. “Was not bad at all, but the opponent was playing really well and she had…
