Former World No.1 Simona Halep to have her retirement match today against Elina Svitolina

Simona Halep will get her farewell later today with the former World No.1 set to face off against a familiar former rival in Elina Svitolina. She will play in the Sports Festival in the city against the Ukrainian as she bids farewell.

The retirement match takes place at the Polyvalent Hall in Cluj-Napoca. Ironically this was the site of her final tournament anyway before she decided to call it a day, but she returns on her own terms.

After testing positive for the substance Clostebol, Halep went through a multi year ordeal attempting to clear her name. But it never fully worked out for her as she couldn't recapture her previous form and ended up injured for most of her time on court again.

She decided as a result to call it a day. The retirement match takes place today in the Sports Festival that runs between June 11-14. Svitolina who she is facing has not yet entered any tournaments including Queen's but is slated to play Berlin next week.

'It is an event full of emotion. I have been emotional since I arrived in Cluj, because everything is about my career, about the people who have supported me, this wonderful crowd who gave me the most beautiful moments, playing here in Cluj for Romania and in individual tournaments. It is a pleasure, an honour, a source of pride.

"I would like to take this opportunity once again to thank Patrick Ciorcila, for making this event possible, this day which somehow brings a cycle of my life to a close, an important cycle, perhaps the most important so far, because tennis has been my life. He does an extraordinary job with the Sports Festival and with WTA tournaments. Congratulations, Patrick, best of luck, and we look forward to as many more such beautiful and emotional events as possible,' said Halep as per AgerPres.Ro.

Halep also touched upon the importance of her two Grand Slam wins and what they meant to her at the time. One more than the other. 'The Roland Garros trophy carried much more emotional weight, because I had already lost three finals, and finally managing to win a Grand Slam was a fulfilment, a release of pressure, and proof that I was capable of winning a Grand Slam, even though I had not succeeded before, having lost three finals.

"Of course, each has its importance, Wimbledon is the most prestigious tournament and I can't say I expected so much to win on grass, because we don't have grass courts in Romania, but year by year I played better and my confidence grew, and beating Serena on grass was something special. I would place them both on the same level, I don't want to make distinctions between them, but still, Roland Garros carried more emotional weight."