Simona Halep hinted at retiring throughout her pre-tournament presser at Cluj-Napoca after which introduced she was strolling away from professional tennis after being demolished in her opening match.
On Tuesday, the two-time Grand Slam champion performed her first event of 2025 after beforehand skipping Auckland and the Australian Open as a consequence of a knee damage.
And sadly for the Romanian but in addition the locals, it did not go nicely since she suffered a brutal 1-6 1-6 defeat to world No. 72 Lucia Bronzetti.
Shortly after the match ended, Halep introduced she was retiring on the age of 33.
“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,” the previous world No. 1 stated in her post-match interivew.
“I’ve always been realistic with myself and with my body.
“The place I in all probability was, it’s very arduous to get there and I do know what it means to get there. That’s why I wished to come back right here immediately in Cluj to play in entrance of you and say goodbye.”
Simona Halep© Transylvania Open/Instagram – Truthful Use
Halep received only one match after returning to tennis
After battling to clear her identify for a 12 months and a half, the Romanian was allowed to return to tennis final March.
However shortly after shedding to Paula Badosa within the Miami first spherical, she was pressured to skip some tournaments as a consequence of a knee difficulty.
In the remainder of 2024, Halep appeared in three extra tournaments and went solely 1-3.
However then, her knee ache and discomfort continued and she or he was pressured to overlook these two occasions.
In her pre-tournament presser in Cluj-Napoca, Halep revealed she was eager about retirement.
And after successful simply two video games in opposition to Bronzetti, she introduced that was it.
Halep possibly did not impress within the final match of her profession however that does not change the truth that she is among the greatest gamers of her era, having received a number of Grand Slams and reached the world No. 1 rating.
