By Two-time grand slam champion and former world No. 1 Simona Halep has retired from tennis.
The Romanian announced her decision at the Transylvania Open in Cluj, Romania on Tuesday after losing her first-round match against Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-1.
“It’s very hard to reach that level, and I know what it takes to get there,” Halep said while addressing supporters after her defeat, per AP.
“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.”
Halep has struggled with injuries since returning to the court last year after serving a doping ban.
The 33-year-old was handed a four-year ban in September 2023 after testing positive for the banned substance Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open.
Halep maintained the anti-doping violations were not intentional and, in March last year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) agreed and reduced the backdated ban to nine months, clearing the two-time grand slam champion to return to the sport.
At the same time Halep was handed her ban, the International Tennis Integrity Agency also announced she was being charged with having irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), which is designed to monitor an athlete’s selected biological variables over time. CAS dismissed that charge.
Before her ban, though, Halep enjoyed a successful career which included 24 WTA singles titles and 64 weeks as the women’s world No. 1.
She won her first grand slam at the French Open in 2018, before securing her second at Wimbledon in 2019.
Her win at Wimbledon came after a dominant victory against Serena Williams in the final, where she made just three unforced errors before wrapping the match up in under an hour. At the time she considered it the best performance of her career.
“To be competitive again requires much more, and at this moment, it’s no longer possible,” Halep added Tuesday.
“I don’t want to cry. This is something beautiful. I reached world No. 1. I won grand slams; it’s everything I ever wanted.”
