Halep justifies her retirement: "I'm no longer able to put in the effort".

Simona Halep played the last match of her career on Tuesday February 4. After being soundly beaten by Lucia Bronzetti (6-1, 6-1) in Cluj-Napoca, the 33-year-old Romanian, invited by the organizers, took the microphone on court and announced her retirement from sport.

The former world No. 1 enjoyed a final moment of communion with her public, and took the opportunity to explain the reasons for her retirement.

"Tonight, I don't know if it's a feeling of joy or sadness. It's probably a bit of both, but I've made this decision in good conscience.

I've always been realistic about myself and my body. It's very difficult to get to the top level and I know what it takes to get there.

That's why I really wanted to come to Cluj to play in front of you and say goodbye to you on the court.

It's true that my performance today wasn't very good, but tennis has been with me for most of my life and I wanted to thank you all for coming.

I'm wondering whether I'll be able to come back here, but for the moment, this is the last time I'll be playing in Cluj.

I don't want to cry, I've won two Grand Slam titles, I've reached world number one. Life goes on, there's life after tennis.

I hope we'll be running into each other as often as possible when I'm around tournaments. Of course, I'll continue to play tennis, but to be competitive at the highest level, you have to do more, and that requires a lot more effort.

At the moment, I'm no longer in a position to do that", Halep explained to the applause of the Transylvanian Open spectators.