"I don’t want tennis kicking me out and saying you’re not useful anymore": Sorana Cirstea wants to end career in 2026 on her own terms

After nearly two decades on the WTA Tour, Sorana Cîrstea has made peace with something that once felt impossible: closing the chapter on her tennis career. Speaking candidly on the Tennis Insider Club podcast with hosts Borja Duran and Caroline Garcia, the 34-year-old Romanian revealed why 2026 will be her final season — and how she wants to walk away not defeated, but fulfilled.

Cîrstea recalls the moment the warning signs became impossible to ignore. During a strong run in Dubai in early 2024, she first felt a familiar but worrying sensation in her foot. What seemed like routine inflammation turned out to be a stubborn case of plantar fasciitis. “It wasn’t getting better. It was getting worse and worse,” she explained. “By the time I got to clay, it was constant pain every single day.”

Eventually, she underwent surgery and stepped away for six months — time she hoped would answer whether she could still find joy in the sport.

But the break also offered clarity. She still wanted to compete. She still wanted to feel adrenaline. And she wanted to finish her way. “I want to end it with dignity, walking out the front door of the sport with my head held high,” she said. “I don’t want tennis kicking me out and saying, ‘You’re not useful anymore.’” 2026, she decided, will be her last year.

When asked whether she thinks about the dreams she had at 20 — being No.1, winning Grand Slams — Cîrstea didn’t hesitate. “This is the toughest question,” she admitted. “Anything less than No.1 or winning Slams felt like failure.”

For years, she carried that weight. The belief that anything she didn’t achieve at 20 or 25 was a permanent mark against her. Now, she sees that pressure differently. "I’ve had a beautiful career, but I didn’t win Grand Slams and I wasn’t No.1. I’ve made peace with that,” she said. “I cannot change the past — but I can change today.”

Her regrets aren’t dramatic turning points or missed strategic decisions. It’s the small things: being too hard on herself, isolating after losses, letting perfectionism drown out joy. “If I had done everything perfectly, maybe I would have been No.1,” she said. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes. But I cannot live my life thinking only about what I didn’t do.”

Cîrstea spent much of her career in an environment where praise was withheld in favor of relentless improvement. Match wins were analyzed for what went wrong, not what went right. Success was something to be immediately pushed aside in search of the next goal.

But that mindset has changed.“You don’t need to say, ‘I’m a piece of shit’ to improve,” she joked. “You can work very hard and still be proud and happy.”

Her gratitude is grounded in perspective. “My best ranking was 21. People would give anything for that,” she said. “What you're complaining about is someone else's dream.”

One of the defining features of Cîrstea’s late-career stability has been her long-term relationship with her psychologist — a woman now in her 80s. “I always tell her, ‘I’m 35, I’m so old,’” Cîrstea laughed. “And she says, ‘Sorana, you are a baby. You haven’t even started living.’”

Those sessions helped remove the shame Cîrstea once attached to being “over 30” on tour. They helped her understand why she’s still here — not because she has no life, but because she loves the life tennis has given her. “People ask, ‘Why are you still playing?’” she said. “Because it makes me happy.”

Cîrstea’s longevity — she will enter her 20th season in 2026 — is something she takes deep pride in. She credits, in part, her childhood: staying in school, playing other sports, and having space to grow as a person before becoming a professional.

“My mom made me stay in school and I’m so grateful,” she said. “School teaches structure, discipline, and to use your brain. Tennis ends one day — school prepares you for life.”

She’s passionate about parents avoiding early specialization, pointing to players like Iga Świątek, Petra Kvitová, and Jannik Sinner as examples that there is no single path to greatness.

“Everyone has their own timing,” she said. “Don’t compare. Don’t make your kid live like a little adult.”

Cîrstea is remarkably at peace with her decision. Not because she’s slowed down — she insists she still has goals for 2026 — but because she wants to leave with intention, clarity, and pride.

“It’s not tennis leaving me,” she said. “It’s me choosing to leave.”

She wants fans to remember her not for rankings or trophies, but for something more intimate: her resilience, her honesty, her love of the game, and the joy she rediscovered after years of pressure.

“I still want to give back something to the sport and to the fans,” she said. “When I finish, I want to feel proud of the person I became.”