Ex-world No 1 Simona Halep announces retirement after home defeat

Bucharest: Former tennis world No 1 Simona Halep announced her retirement on Tuesday after her first-round defeat at the WTA Cluj-Napoca tournament in her native Romania.

The 33-year-old lost 6-1, 6-1 to 72nd-ranked Italian Lucia Bronzetti.

Decision with peace of mind

“I feel both sadness and joy — both emotions are running through me right now. But I take this decision with peace of mind. My body can no longer endure what it takes to reach the level I once was at,” the Romanian said.

“It’s too difficult to get back there and I know what kind of effort that requires. That’s why I came here to Cluj, to play in front of you and to say goodbye. Even though today’s performance wasn’t my best, I am so happy you came.

Pulling out of Australian Open

“I reached World No 1, I won Grand Slam titles, I achieved everything I ever wanted. Life goes on after tennis and I hope we will see each other as often as possible. I will still play tennis, but to be competitive at the highest level takes so much more and at this moment, it’s no longer possible for me,” Halep said.

The two-time Grand Slam champion, who had been working to re-establish herself after a doping ban, pulled out of Australian Open qualifying last month citing pain in her knee and shoulder.

Halep returned to tennis in March last year after her career had been on hold since October 7, 2022, after testing positive for roxadustat at the US Open.

The winner of the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon singles titles was then caught up in a second affair, over “irregularities” in the data of her biological passport.

Result of anaemia treatment

She was handed a four-year ban by the ITIA, but successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), arguing her positive test for roxadustat — used to treat anaemia and banned as a blood doping agent — was the result of a tainted supplement.

She denied knowingly doping and her ban was reduced from four years to nine months.

But she never managed to regain the level that allowed her to rise to the top of the world rankings in October 2017, a position she occupied for a total of 64 weeks in her career.

Halep won 24 WTA titles over her 19-year career including the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019.

She also played in three other Grand Slam finals — the French Open in 2014 and 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018.

She won 22 other WTA Tour titles and spent 64 weeks as world No 1.

— Agencies