Halep's message three months after her retirement: "Tennis has been my mentor and friend, but also my harshest critic"
In early February, Simona Halep announced her immediate retirement in front of her home crowd in Cluj-Napoca. Plagued by injuries in recent months and sidelined from professional tennis for a year and a half due to a doping suspension, the Romanian decided to call it quits after a loss to Lucia Bronzetti (6-1, 6-1).
The two-time Grand Slam champion, now 33, reflected on her decision to retire more than three months after playing her final match on the tour.
"It's been three months since I decided I had to stop. After many discussions with the most important people in my life—about the best way to announce it, where, when, how—the decision was made during that match in Cluj (against Bronzetti).
Tennis has been my educator, my mentor, my confidant, and my friend, but also my harshest critic. It taught me to fight, to be tough on myself, but also to be gentle, demanding, and to take care of my body, mind, and soul.
Tennis entered my life when I knew very little about life. I was a small child who felt immediately drawn to this sport, without realizing at the time what performance, dreams, loyalty, and total dedication meant.
Tennis guided me step by step to the top of the mountain. Because, yes, performance is like a mountain. Tennis has been, is, and will forever remain in my soul. It also showed me, during that last match, what I needed to do: it’s now time to take care of Simona as a human being.
Performance comes with many moments where you feel like you're pushing yourself to the limit, even when you think you can't go any further. It’s tough, but it’s a reward you won’t find anywhere else.
Tennis isn’t just a sport to me. Tennis is a part of me. That’s why there’s no finish line—only a stop in playing tennis. It lives and will live in me forever. Tennis taught me who I was," Halep told the local media outlet Golazo in recent hours.
