"I am old, I have injuries that I can't recover from": Simona Halep often thinks about retirement in honest confession on future
WTA
Former World No.1 Simona Halep has had a turbulent time to say the least as she admits that retirement goes through her head very often and that recent injury issues that won't heal are starting to take their toll.
Halep was cleared to return to professional tennis in 2024 following her successful appeal from her doping ban but she has only played two matches. Both were on different ends of the year in March at Miami as well as Hong Kong in October.
She has dabbled in smaller level tournaments so isn't afraid to go lower to gain ranking points but also the issue is that Halep has often become injured during these tournaments. She recently missed the Australian Open due to an injury sustained at an exhibition, the World Tennis League.
She returns next week at the Transylvania Open which starts on Monday 3 February and seemed to hint that her future in the sport might not endure a long tenure. A shame for a player who was at the top when she got banned.
“Of course I think about retiring, and this goes through my mind very often. I am old, I have injuries that I can’t recover from. My knee is not recovering,” she told Golazo.ro.
“I have always said that tennis is not life in its entirety. Of course, I still have many desires and goals in this life after tennis.
“Everything I have done in tennis has been extraordinary, I have worked for it and I feel like a very fulfilled tennis player. I would like to do something else, not just tennis.”
“My knee is still giving me a headache because it’s a cartilage tear and it’s not easy to manage. At the moment it doesn’t hurt, but I haven’t had any official matches either. That’s the problem.”
Simona Halep says she has been considering retiring from professional tennis:
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 2, 2025
“The knee injury I have is quite serious and difficult to recover from. I don’t know if I’m afraid to push myself, but when I feel pain, it’s hard to play at my highest level. It’s very difficult to… pic.twitter.com/VSmMoiizFA
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