After a long and difficult year and a half to clear her name. Simona Halep will be back at the 2024 Miami Open.

Haven’t played a competitive match since 2022 it will be interesting to see how she fares against the new women at the top. While Halep was gone, Sabelenka, Swiatek, and Rybakina have established themselves at the very top of the WTA as the women to beat.

It’s not as if Halep has been sitting around for the better part of the last year and a half. I follow her on Instagram and she’s been training as hard as ever, always confident that the courts would rule in her favor. The gritty Romanian will surely be provided with wild cards galore wherever she goes this year, and deservedly so. These wildcards will be critical to Halep regaining her rightful place near the top of women’s tennis again. She’s got the game to do it.

So, what can we expect from Halep in 2023? To get a sense of where she may land, let’s take a look at her records against the top of women’s tennis.

1. Rybakina: 2 and 2
2. Sabalenka: 3 and 2
3. Swiatek: 2 and 2
4. Gauff: 4:0

It’s also worth to note that her record against these women have been fairly recent. Many of these wins came in 2022. We’re only a couple of years removed from these results, and although Halep is 32 years old, one needs to only look at how some of the older women on the tour are faring to get a sense of what she could do. You got Wozniacki coming back playing some great tennis. Also, compatriot Sorana Cristea is 33 and is in wonderful form, currently ranked #22 in the world. The last time she was ranked that high was in 2014 when she reached #21 in the world. Nowadays the 30s are the new 20s. I suspect Halep will be hungry and will have a lot left in the tank.

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