Two-time Grand Slam champion
Simona Halep announced her retirement from
tennis at age 33 after a first-round loss at a tournament in her home country of Romania on Tuesday, ending an injury-filled comeback from a
“I don’t know if it’s with sadness or joy — I think I’m feeling both — but my soul is at peace with this decision, and I’ve always been realistic with myself. My body can no longer handle as much as it used to, to get me where I probably once was,” Halep said, using a microphone to address the crowd in Cluj, Romania, following her 6-1, 6-1 loss to Lucia Bronzetti in the Transylvania Open.
“It’s very hard to reach that level, and I know what it takes to get there,” Halep said. “That’s why I wanted to be here today, in Cluj, to play in front of you and say goodbye on the tennis court, even if my performance wasn’t great.”
It was the first match of the year for Halep, who reached No. 1 in the WTA rankings for the first time in 2017 but is now 870th and was given a wild-card invitation to play in Romania.
She had pulled out of qualifying for the Australian Open and a tuneup tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, last month because of pain in her knee and shoulder, the latest interruption of her career.
Halep once stood atop women’s tennis, winning major singles trophies
at Wimbledon in 2019 by beating Serena Williams in the final and
at the French Open in 2018 by beating Sloane Stephens in the final.
She also was a three-time runner-up at Grand Slam tournaments — at the Australian Open in 2018 and the French Open in 2014 and 2017.
But her last appearance at a major event came at the 2022 U.S. Open. That was where Halep
lost in the first round to Daria Snigur of Ukraine 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 and
tested positive for the banned drug Roxadustat.
Roxadustat was approved for use in the European Union in 2021 to treat the symptoms of anemia caused by chronic kidney failure. It stimulates the body to produce more of the natural hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, which has long been a doping product favored by cyclists and distance runners to boost stamina.
Halep initially was given a four-year ban that would have expired in 2026. But she appealed, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport
reduced the penalty to nine months in March 2024.
