“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,” Simona Halep stated in an on-court interview after losing 6-1 6-1 in just 59 minutes on Tuesday.
Following her match against Lucia Bronzetti of Italy at the Transylvania Open, Simona Halep of Romania announced her retirement.
Shortly after her match against Bronzetti, the announcement of her retirement was made. Halep has suffered a crushing loss in her first 2025 match.
The former world number one kicked off her season at her home competition, the Transylvania Open, in Romania on Tuesday, after being handed a wild card.
However, Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti swept to a 6-1 6-1 victory in just 59 minutes, and the two-time Grand Slam champion only managed to win two games.
During an interview on the court, Halep stated:
“Tonight, 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. 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 No 1, 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.”
Due to a tainted supplement, Halep received a four-year doping ban that was reduced to nine months. Halep last participated in a WTA Tour event in Hong Kong in October.
The 33-year-old also participated in an exhibition event in December in Abu Dhabi, but she later withdrew from the Australian Open qualifying round due to shoulder and knee pain.
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