Two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Simona Halep has officially retired from tennis, ending her distinguished career.
The 33-year-old Romanian announced her retirement after her 6-1, 6-1 first-round defeat to Lucia Bronzetti at the Transylvania Open.
Halep said: “ I don’t know if it’s with joy or sadness, I think both feelings are trying me but I’m making this decision with my soul… I’ve always been realistic with myself and with my body. Where I probably was, it’s very hard to get there and I know what it means to get there.”
She added: “That’s why I wanted to come here today in Cluj to play in front of you and say goodbye. Even though my performance wasn’t very good it was still my soul and I’m very glad you came, and I’ll wonder if I’ll come back again. But for now it’s the last time I’ve played here and I don’t want to cry.”
“It’s a beautiful thing. I became world number one, I won Grand Slams, it’s all I wanted… Life goes on, there is life after tennis and I hope that we will see each other again… I’ll come to the tennis here as often as I can and of course, I will continue to play – but to be competitive it requires much more and at this moment it is no longer.”
In her social media post, Halep also shared: “Thank you for everything. I leave full of gratitude”
Thank you for everything. I leave full of gratitude ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4E6dIpVbG6
— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) February 5, 2025
Halep’s athletic journey
Halep won the French Open in 2018 and the Wimbledon in 2019. She won 24 titles in her career, which began in 2006.
The Transylvania Open was her fifth tournament since she returned to the WTA Tour after a doping ban.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) suspended her for four years for two breaches of anti-doping regulations. The suspension was reduced to nine months after she appealed to the Court of Arbitration in 2024.