Simona Halep Announces Her Retirement At Age 33 After Two Grand Slam Titles And A Return From A Ban

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