Simona Halep: Two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one retires

Simona Halep, the two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 tennis star, has officially announced her retirement. This decision was personally announced on the court after her first-round defeat to Lucia Bronzetti at the Transylvania Open with a score of 1-6, 1-6.

The 33-year-old Romanian had previously indicated she was considering retirement after a knee injury forced her to withdraw from the Australian Open qualifiers last month. This week's tournament was her fifth event on the WTA tour since returning from a nearly two-year doping ban, marking a significant comeback attempt.

In an emotional statement to the audience, Halep said: "I made this decision with my soul. It is a beautiful thing. I was world No. 1, I won Grand Slams, it's exactly what I wanted. Life goes on, there is life after tennis, I hope we will see each other again. I will come here to watch tennis as much as possible and of course I will keep playing – but to be competitive requires more, and I am no longer able to do that at the moment."

Halep's most memorable moment came at the 2018 French Open, where she won her first Grand Slam title by defeating Sloane Stephens, after having lost her previous three Grand Slam finals. She then triumphed again at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, stunningly defeating Serena Williams in the final with only three unforced errors. She also won 22 WTA tour titles and spent a total of 64 weeks as world No. 1, solidifying her place in tennis history.

Halep was initially handed a four-year ban for two separate anti-doping rule violations after testing positive for a banned substance in August 2022. She consistently maintained her innocence and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2024. The arbitration panel ruled that Halep had, "on the balance of probabilities," not intentionally ingested roxadustat, and her ban was reduced to nine months. She subsequently returned to the WTA tour in March 2024, but only played six matches, winning just one, before 2025.

Halep stated: "I have always been very realistic with myself and my body. It is very difficult to reach the level I was once at, and I know what it means to reach that level."

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller analyzed: "Halep was a top-ten player at the US Open in 2022, having just reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon. Back then, it would have seemed absurd to suggest she would never win another tour-level match." But sporting careers can be fragile, and the time lost through suspension and physical ailments quickly made her realize that time cannot be turned back. Halep's two Grand Slam titles will forever remain in people's memories. First, at the 2018 French Open, where she had to recover from a set and a break down to beat Sloane Stephens and avoid losing a fourth successive Grand Slam final. Then, a year later at Wimbledon, she needed just 56 minutes to beat Serena Williams on Centre Court in what she was convinced was the best match she ever played.