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The return to tennis after a long doping-suspension saga has not gone smoothly for Simona Halep.

Perhaps the 32-year-old Romanian came back too quickly – understandable, considering how long she was out.

But after playing just one match at the Miami Open – a three-set loss to Paula Badosa nearly two months ago – and dealing with a knee injury, Halep is set to return in Paris this week.

(UPDATE: After a day’s delay for rain, Halep went out to play McCartney Kessler on Wednesday. Unfortunately, she retired in the second set with a recurrence of the knee pain she felt in Miami, which took her off the competitive court until this week).

It’s not Roland Garros; she would need a wild card for that. And it’s not clear whether or not she’ll get one with others also needing them – Caroline Wozniacki, to name one. She didn’t get one in Rome, and she’s a former champion and three-time finalist there.

Halep has a wild card into the Trophée Clarins, which is a WTA 125-level event held near Roland Garros, at the Lagardère Paris Racing Club.

You could about walk to Roland Garros from there; the club is located just north of it inside the Bois de Boulogne.

***The last time Halep played a clay-court tournament was Roland Garros 2022 when things were … a whole lot different.***

It’s a WTA 125, which you would think is a great place to get started on clay.

Except … it’s a WTA 125 the second week of an extended WTA 1000. Which means the draw is stacked.

Especially because it’s in Paris.

Halep, currently ranked No. 1149 after getting those first-round defeat points in Miami, will face American McCartney Kessler in the first round. If she gets through that, she’s likely to see … No. 1 seed Emma Navarro, who is ranked No. 22.

The last time Halep played a clay-court tournament was two years ago at Roland Garros. She defeated lucky loser Nastasja Schunk in the first round in three sets. Then she lost to Zheng Qinwen (then ranked No. 74) in three sets.

Rare lower-level tournament for the former No. 1

Halep had received a wild card into a similar WTA 125 in Oeiras, Portugal last month, but withdrew because of that knee issue.

The last time Halep played a tournament below the WTA level was in Dec. 2011, a $75K ITF in Dubai. She was 20 at the time, already ranked No. 53 and playing all the big events, but looking for some ranking points during pre-season training.

But the way the WTA Tour is there days, there isn’t even a WTA tournament to play this week.