Halep was a hugely popular first-time Grand Slam champion, well-liked in the dressing room and within the sport in general for her groundedness and apparent lack of ego. Her desperation to win a major was well known and after Halep won in Paris, Martina Navratilova joked: “It wasn’t a monkey off her back; this was an 800lb gorilla.”

Two-time grand slam champion and former world No. 1 Simona Halep has retired from tennis. The Romanian announced her decision at the Transylvania Open in Cluj, Romania on Tuesday after losing her first-round match against Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-1.

Simona Halep, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion who was ranked world No. 1 in women's tennis singles for 64 combined weeks, announced her

The winner of 24 singles titles called an end to her career after a first-round loss Tuesday in the Transylvania Open in her native Romania.

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

Halep, 33, had struggled to regain her best form after being suspended in October 2022 for testing positive for a banned substance.

Simona Halep announced her retirement from tennis at age 33 after a first-round loss at a tournament in her home country of Romania.

Romanian tennis star Simona Halep has had a difficult last two years, especially after she was ranked roughly World No.1. With persistent injuries and a tough homecoming to seasoned tennis, the tennis star has started to share increasing thoughts of retirement.