Ex-world number one Halep announces retirement after home defeat
Former tennis world number one 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.
'I don't know if it is with joy or sadness that I speak to you but I made this decision in my soul and conscience, I have always been lucid. My body no longer follows, but today I wanted to play and say my goodbyes on the court,' Halep told the Romanian crowd.
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.
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