Former Wimbledon champion Halep announces retirement

Simona Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one, has retired from tennis.

Following her 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Lucia Bronzetti in the first round, the Romanian made the announcement on court at the Transylvania Open.

The 33-year-old recently stated that a knee injury that forced her to withdraw from Australian Open qualifying last month had led to her retirement.

She returned to the WTA Tour after serving a doping ban for almost two years, and this week’s competition was just her fifth.

Making an emotional statement to the crowd, Halep said: “I’m making this decision with my soul.

” It’s a beautiful thing. I became world number one, I won Grand Slams, it’s all I wanted. After tennis, life continues, and I’m hoping to run into each other once more.

In a stunning final victory over Serena Williams, she then triumphed in the same year at Wimbledon, making just three unforced errors.

She also won 22 other WTA Tour titles and remained unranked for 64 weeks.

After testing positive for a banned substance for the first time in August 2022, Halep received a four-year ban for two separate doping offenses.

In 2024, she fought the ban in court and always defended her innocence.

The panel ruled Halep, “on the balance of probabilities”, had not taken roxadustat intentionally and her ban was reduced to nine months.

In March of that year, she made her WTA Tour debut, but she only won once and only won six matches.

“I’ve always been realistic with myself and with my body”, Halep said.