Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep announced her retirement from tennis at age 33 after a first-round loss at a tournament in her home country of Romania on Tuesday, ending an injury-filled comeback from a doping suspension. Halep used a microphone to address the crowd in Cluj-napoca, Romania, following her , loss to Lucia Bronzetti in the Transylvania Open. That was the first match of the year for Halep, who reached No. She had pulled out of qualifying for the Australian Open and a tuneup tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, last month because of pain in her knee and shoulder, the latest interruption of her career.
Halep once stood atop women's tennis, winning major singles trophies at Wimbledon in by beating Serena Williams in the final and at the French Open in by beating Sloane Stephens in the final. She also was a three-time runner-up at Grand Slam tournaments β at the Australian Open in and the French Open in and But her last appearance at a major event came at the U.
That was where Halep lost in the first round to Daria Snigur of Ukraine , , and tested positive for the banned drug Roxadustat. Roxadustat was approved for use in the European Union in to treat the symptoms of anemia caused by chronic kidney failure.
It stimulates the body to produce more of the natural hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, which has long been a doping product favored by cyclists and distance runners to boost stamina.
Halep initially was given a four-year ban that would have expired in But she appealed, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the penalty to nine months in March She argued that she was exposed to a contaminated supplement that caused her failed test. Halep made her return to the tour later that month at the Miami Open but has played a total of only six matches since then. Check out Village Report - the news that matters most to Canada, updated throughout the day.
