Two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one Simona Halep has officially announced her retirement from professional tennis. The 33-year-old made the emotional revelation on court at the Transylvania Open following a 6-1, 6-1 first-round loss to Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti.

Halep, who has been a prominent figure in women’s tennis for over a decade, recently hinted at the possibility of retirement, particularly after struggling with a knee injury that led to her withdrawal from the Australian Open qualifying tournament just a month ago. This week’s event marked only her fifth tournament back on the WTA Tour after serving a nearly two-year doping ban.

Addressing the crowd in a heartfelt statement, the Romanian shared her decision: “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. Life goes on, there is life after tennis and I hope that we will see each other again.”

Halep, who had a successful and storied career, expressed her gratitude to the sport and fans but acknowledged the physical and mental demands that come with being competitive at the highest level: “I’ll come to the tennis here as often as I can and of course I will continue to play – but to be competitive it requires much more and at this moment it is no longer.”

Halep’s illustrious career included notable achievements such as winning her first Grand Slam at the 2018 French Open, where she triumphed over Sloane Stephens. She followed that with a historic victory at Wimbledon in 2019, defeating Serena Williams in a final that saw her commit just three unforced errors in a commanding performance.

Over the course of her career, Halep won 22 WTA Tour titles and spent 64 weeks as the world number one.

Her retirement comes after a tumultuous period off the court, which included a four-year ban for two separate doping offences after she tested positive for the banned substance roxadustat in August 2022. However, Halep maintained her innocence throughout the process and appealed the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In 2024, the panel ruled that Halep had not taken the substance intentionally, reducing her ban to just nine months.