Two-time Slam winner Halep calls it a day after ban comeback falters

Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 33 after a first-round loss at a tournament in her home country of Romania on Tuesday, ending an injury-blighted comeback from a doping suspension.

"I don't know if it's with sadness or joy — I think I'm feeling both — but my soul is at peace with this decision, and I've always been realistic with myself. My body can no longer handle as much as it used to, to get me where I probably once was," Halep said, using a microphone to address the crowd in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, following her 6-1, 6-1 loss to Lucia Bronzetti in the Transylvania Open.

"It's very hard to reach that level, and I know what it takes to get there," Halep said. "That's why I wanted to be here today, in Cluj, to play in front of you and say goodbye on the tennis court, even if my performance wasn't great."

It was the first match of the year for Halep, who reached No 1 in the WTA rankings for the first time in 2017, but is now 870th and was given a wild-card invitation to play in Romania.

She pulled out of qualifying for the Australian Open and a tuneup tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, last month because of pain in her knee and shoulder, the latest interruption to her career.

Halep once stood atop women's tennis, winning major singles trophies at Wimbledon in 2019 by beating Serena Williams in the final and at the French Open in 2018 by beating Sloane Stephens.

She was also a three-time runner-up at Grand Slam tournaments — at the Australian Open in 2018 and the French Open in 2014 and 2017.

But, her last appearance at a major event came at the 2022 US Open. That was where Halep lost in the first round to Daria Snigur of Ukraine 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 and tested positive for the banned drug Roxadustat.

Roxadustat was approved for use in the European Union in 2021 to treat the symptoms of anemia caused by chronic kidney failure.

It stimulates the body to produce more of the natural hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, which has long been a doping product favored by cyclists and distance runners to boost stamina.

Halep was initially given a four-year ban that would have expired in 2026, but she appealed, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the penalty to nine months in March 2024.

She argued that she was exposed to a contaminated supplement that caused her failed test.

CAS determined that Halep bore "some level of fault or negligence "for not exercising "sufficient care "while using the supplement, but "she bore no significant fault or negligence". So that is why, CAS said, "her anti-doping rule violations were not intentional".

Halep made her return to the tour later that month at the Miami Open, but has played a total of only six matches since then.

She leaves the sport with 24 singles titles and more than $40 million in prize money.

"To be competitive again requires much more, and at this moment, it's no longer possible," Halep said on Tuesday.

"I don't want to cry — this is something beautiful. I reached world No 1, I won Grand Slams; it's everything I ever wanted."

Agencies via Xinhua