Simona Halep failed to record her first win on the main level since returning from a doping ban after losing to Yue Yuan 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament in Hong Kong.
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After recently being sidelined for five months due to a knee injury, the former world No. 1 didn't look well early on in the match but managed to save two break points in the second game.
Two games later, she wasn't that lucky after the sixth-seeded Chinese took the Romanian's serve to open a 3-1 lead. Up by a break, world No. 45 Yue routinely held on to her serve for the rest of the first set.
At the start of the second set, Halep showed some signs of life and bounced back by winning the first three games.
Stunningly, the two-time Grand Slam champion then went without a single game won in the remainder of the match as Yue completed a two-set win in an hour and 22 minutes of play.
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Halep played in Hong Kong earlier this month as well
After sustaining a knee issue in May, the 33-year-old signed up to play at the WTA 125 (Challenger) tournament in Hong Kong in early October. Back then, the former world No. 1 clinched her first win in over two years by beating Aryna Rodionova. In her following match, the Romanian was annihilated by Anna Blinkova.
"It has been a very difficult period (almost two years) mentally and emotionally for me and struggling physically on top of that definitely doesnt help. I have decided to take the time needed to recover properly, rather than training and playing through pain. My instinct has always been to try to come back as soon as possible, but I am not a machine, I am a human being and I need time to recover from everything I have gone through," Halep previously said in July.
