Simona Halep reveals she made decision to retire only during her last match
NewsFriday, 14 November 2025 at 17:30
Simona Halep's tennis career came to an end a bit abruptly, and she has now revealed how the decision to retire from tennis came to be.
After Halep tested positive for a banned substance at the 2022 US Open and was later banned for it as well, it seemed the Romanian's career could be ended, but not on her own terms. However, she eventually had her ban shortened by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and returned to competition days after at the 2024 Miami Open. But the comeback attempt of the former WTA world No. 1 player was short-lived.
Despite playing great in her first match back against Paula Badosa, Halep retired from her second match and then missed five months of action. She won the first match of her second comeback attempt, which ended up being her only win since her positive test at the 2022 US Open.
Halep ended the 2024 season with two more losses in Hong Kong (at two different events), but despite withdrawing from the 2025 Australian Open, it seemed she might be able to restart her career again at the Transylvania Open in Cluj.
However, what was supposed to be Halep's first event back in 2025 ended up being her last-ever professional tennis match. The two-time Grand Slam champion lost in the first round to Lucia Bronzetti 1-6, 1-6, and as she has now revealed to The National, she made the decision to retire during that match.
"I thought about it for a while, but it was not decided when I entered the court that in that match I would retire. But I felt like my place is not there any more. I felt physically, I was injured with my knee and I was in pain. So after I lost the first set, I made up my mind and I said, 'I'm going to stop after this.'"
"And then I went to my parents and I told them that I want to stop. And they said, 'OK, announce it.' So the story was like this. Nobody knew."
Halep was asked whether she has ever regretted the decision to retire since then, but she said that she never felt any regrets, which, according to her, means it was the right decision.
"No, never. So probably that means that, inside myself, it was the right decision. And now I feel it. I think it was the best thing. I have no regrets and every mistake I did, I assume it and I accept it. And all the good things that I did, I'm proud of."
"I can say I'm proud of many things, but the main thing is the way I managed all the failures and the successes. Because when you grow up from a little country, the big success, you don't really know all the time how to manage it. And I feel like I managed it very well and I didn't change much. So I think this, I'm the proudest of."
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