Her final match complete, Simona Halep let out a deep breath on Tuesday evening and a small smile began to creep across her face. She walked slowly toward the baseline seats and basked in applause from a gallery that included family and friends.
“I feel both sadness and joy -- both emotions are running through me right now,” Halep said in heartfelt on-court remarks. “But I’m making this decision with a peaceful heart. My body can no longer sustain the effort it takes to get back to where I once was, and I know what that requires.
“That’s why I came here to Cluj -- to play in front of you and to say goodbye.”
On Wednesday, she made it official: Halep is indeed retiring from the Hologic WTA Tour. Let the record show her last appearance was a 6-1, 6-1 defeat at the hands of Lucia Bronzetti in the first round of the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
For the seven years she was at her very best, Halep was a joy to watch on the tennis court. In an era dominated by big groundstrokes and bigger serves, the 5-foot-6 Halep -- a fluid, dashing, defensive marvel -- was a refreshing outlier.
This has been coming for quite some time for the 33-year-old Romanian. That she chose to end it by accepting a wild card in her home country seemed perfectly appropriate.
Halep, a versatile, all-court player, won two Grand Slam singles titles, the 2018 French Open, defeating Sloane Stephens in the final, and 2019 Wimbledon, featuring a memorable straight-sets final over Serena Williams. Halep is one of only 29 women in 50 years of the PIF WTA Rankings to reach No. 1 and finishes with 24 titles and more than $40 million in prize money. Perhaps most remarkably, for seven consecutive years, from 2014-20, she finished among the Top 5.
That first major, she said, was the memory that stands out.
“Even if you’re World No. 1 and don’t have a Grand Slam, you’re not a true No. 1,” Halep said. “It’s every child’s dream to lift a Grand Slam trophy, and for me, it’s undoubtedly the 2018 Roland Garros.”
She reached two other finals in Paris, in 2014 and 2017, as well as the 2018 Australian Open final, two more Wimbledon semifinals (2014 and 2022) and the 2015 US Open semifinals. As those results suggest, she was comfortable on all surfaces. Look at the consistency of these marvelous composite records: Australian Open (31-12), Roland Garros (32-11), Wimbledon (29-9) and US Open (20-12).
Her game was modeled on her idol, Justine Henin, who reached nine major finals -- on all three surfaces. Since the turn of the century, Halep is one of only five women to win championships at both Wimbledon and Roland Garros. The others are Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Barbora Krejcikova. Halep’s career winning percentage on clay and grass were nearly identical, just ahead of hard courts.
And while Halep’s legacy includes a doping ban that sidelined her for 19 months and likely hastened her retirement, memories of her extraordinary movement will endure.
“I loved her game,” 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova said. “If I was showing kids how to move around the court, I would show them video of Simona. She was such a beautiful, smooth mover.”
Asked before the tournament if she was considering retirement, Halep nodded and said, “Of course.”
In an interview with reporters, Halep sounded uncharacteristically pessimistic.
“This crosses my mind very often,” she said. “I’m old, I have injuries that I can’t recover from. My knee is still giving me a headache because it’s a cartilage tear and it’s not easy to manage. I was recommended an operation, but it’s quite difficult and I don’t think I’ll do it.”
Halep tested positive at the 2022 US Open for the banned drug roxadustat, a substance favored by cyclists and distance runners to increase stamina. Halep steadfastly declared her innocence, saying she had “never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance.” Still, she received a four-year ban from the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which was later reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“I’m at peace -- I know I did nothing wrong in tennis,” Halep said. “I am clean, so it didn’t affect me mentally. It only took me out of the circuit -- maybe that was intended, maybe that’s how the system works. But I’m here, I’m emotionally fine, and that’s what matters most.”
As it turned out, Halep was enjoying a resurgent season in 2022, winning the WTA 1000 event in Toronto -- her last title -- and returning to the Top 10 at the age of 30.
Her comeback began last march in Miami, where she lost to Paula Badosa in the first round. There were a pair of WTA 125 events, in Paris and Hong Kong, before a WTA main draw in Hong Kong when she was defeated by Yuan Yue. The Transylvania Open was her first (and only) match of 2025.
It’s been a time of transition for some of the elite veterans. Multi-Grand Slam singles winners Muguruza -- a worthy comparison to Halep’s career -- and Kerber both retired last year. Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka came back after giving birth, in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who turns 35 in March, announced that she’ll return to tennis after a 15-month maternity leave later this month in Austin, Texas.
“I’ve reached World No. 1, I’ve won Grand Slam titles, everything I’ve ever dreamed of,” Halep said on court. “Life goes on after tennis, and I hope we’ll see each other as often as possible. But to be competitive requires much more, and at this moment, it’s no longer possible for me.
“To be honest, before the match, I was still hesitating a bit. But when I saw what happened on the court, I felt with all my heart that this is the decision I need to make … because if you’re not training 100 percent every day, you can’t keep up. And I’m not the type to just show up on the court.
“I am very at peace with this decision.”
