Former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep on Tuesday announced her retirement from professional tennis following a first-round loss in Cluj, Afrosport reports.
Halep, playing in her first match in 2025, was beaten 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets in front of her home fans by Italian Lucia Bronzetti at the Transylvania Open.
The 33-year-old, who had her doping ban reduced on appeal last year, had delayed her season because of knee and shoulder pains. She, however, called time on her career after Tuesday’s defeat.
“I don’t know if it’s with sadness or joy, I think I feel both, but I make this decision with my soul at peace, I have always been realistic with myself,” Halep told the crowd at the BT Arena.
“My body cannot take as much so as to get back where I once was, it is very difficult to get there and I know what it means to get there. That is why I wanted to come to Cluj today to play before you and to say goodbye on the tennis court.
“Who knows whether I will return but at the moment it is for the last time that I play here. I don’t want to cry, it is a beautiful thing, I became world No 1, I won Grand Slams, it is everything I ever wanted. Life moves on, there is life after tennis too.”
BREAKING:
Simona Halep has retired from professional tennis.
It’s tough to see such a great champion leave the sport.
She poured so much love and energy into her craft every day that she chose to play tennis.
And she inspired countless people along the way.
It’s fitting… pic.twitter.com/0kGyTwzfIS
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 4, 2025
Halep suffered defeat in three Grand Slam finals before clinching her first major at the French Open in 2018. She went on to win at Wimbledon in 2019, taking 24 WTA Tour titles along the way.
She was handed a provisional suspension in October 2022 after testing positive for roxadustat—a banned drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells—at the US Open that same year.
The Romanian was later banned for four years, a sanction that was eventually cut to nine months in March 2024 following an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“Being away from the court in this period, I realised how hard the last 15 years were, working every day, no matter how you feel, you must push yourself to the max,” Halep added.
“Perhaps life also means something else. I understood that in this period, and I want to enjoy what I am living now. I have done a lot in tennis. I am at peace, content with what I did, and I feel the time has come to look in another direction.”
Halep reached the top of the WTA rankings in 2017, including ending the year at the summit, as well as in 2018. She departs the sport, having earned more than $40 million in prize money.
