James Blake is the reason Simona Halep received a wild card for Miami

Just as the verdict of Simona Halep’s appeal of her doping ban was revealed, so too was the announcement of her return to tennis. This week at the Miami Open, the two-time Grand Slam champion will return to action for the first time since the 2022 US Open. She will play her first round against former world No. 2 Paula Badosa, with the winner facing No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka.

You can thank James Blake for that.

“That one’s on me,” the Miami tournament director said on Served with Andy Roddick. “When it comes to some of the tennis decisions they're going to trust me.”

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) officially reduced Halep’s doping ban from four years to nine months, ruling that she didn’t consciously take a banned substance. This allowed her to immediately return to tennis as she had served the nine months within this appeal period, so she capitalized on the “immediate” part and accepted a wild card into the Miami Open.

“I had a feeling we needed to be ready for whether she's going to ask [for a wild card],” Blake said. “We had already gone through a lot of our wild card discussions, and we did, luckily, save one women's wild card because you never know what's going to happen.”

The only concern for Blake was whether she was ready to compete.

“You don't want to put someone out there who hasn't been practicing,” he said. “It's going to be detrimental to them. We don't want them going out and getting killed.”

Blake sought out Darren Cahill, Halep’s former coach, who confirmed that the Romanian has been preparing for months and was ready for a speedy return.

“We all came to the same conclusion to welcome her back,” Blake said.

All eyes will be on the former world No. 1 as she “rejoins the tour with renewed vigor and an invigorated spirit,” as she said in an Instagram post.