Former world No. 1 Simona Halep announces retirement from tennis

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

Former world number one Simona Halep has announced her retirement from tennis after her 1st round defeat to Lucia Bronzetti at the Transylvania Open on Tuesday.

"I'm making this decision with my soul. (..) I'll come to the tennis here as often as I can and of course I will continue to play - but to be competitive it requires much more and at this moment it is no longer," said the two-time Grand Slam champion.

"It's a beautiful thing. I became world number one, I won Grand Slams, it's all I wanted. Life goes on, there is life after tennis and I hope that we will see each other again," the 33-year-old added.

The Romanian formerly stated the she was struggling to continue to play tennis because of her knee injury.

Halep bagged the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon women's singles titles.