Simona Halep retires from tennis

Former world No. 1 Simona Halep retired from tennis on Tuesday, announcing her decision after losing in the first round of a tournament in her native Romania.

The 33-year-old said she entered the WTA Tour event in Cluj to play in front of her home country's fans one last time to "say goodbye."

“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," Halep said while addressing the Transylvania Open crowd after a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Lucia Bronzetti. ""My body can no longer handle as much as it used to, to get me where I probably once was."

“It’s very hard to reach that level, and I know what it takes to get there. 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.”

After her match today at the Transylvania Open Simona Halep announced her retirement. pic.twitter.com/pjej7EAgs6
— Romanian Tennis (@WTARomania) February 4, 2025

Halep ended her ongoing comeback from a doping suspension after just one match in 2025. Last month, she withdrew from an Australian Open tuneup event in New Zealand and then pulled out of qualifying for the year's first major tournament, which was won by American Madison Keys.

Halep leaves the sport with 24 WTA Tour titles and career earnings of over $40 million. She ascended to No. 1 in the world in 2017 and held the top ranking for 64 weeks.

A gritty competitor, Halep won two major titles — the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019 — and she was a Grand Slam runner-up three times at the French (2014, 2017) and Australian (2018).

The last major tournament of Halep's career was the 2022 U.S. Open. Seeded seventh, Halep lost in a first-round upset by Ukraine's Daria Snigur, but she was dealt a bigger blow three months later when a positive test for a banned substance led to a four-year ban that was later reduced to nine months last March.

Former world No. 1 player Simona Halep retires from tennis

By Joe Lago | Feb 4, 2025