Simona Halep drops bombshell on her future tennis career after struggling with a knee injury
Forced to withdraw from the Australian Open due to a knee injury, Simona Halep will play her first match of the year at the Transylvania Open.
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Simona Halep (via X)
In mid-May 2024, Simona Halep sustained a knee injury shortly after returning to tennis following an 18-month doping suspension. The rehabilitation process took longer than anticipated, leading her to withdraw from several tournaments. The 33-year-old gave an interview to Golazo in which she spoke about her thoughts of retiring from tennis, as she wants to do other things in life besides tennis.
With only one win out of 5 official matches in 2024, which she had at the round of 32 at the Hong Kong 125 Open, Halep has been plagued by injuries since returning to the WTA circuit. Her health could weigh heavily in her decision to retire from tennis.
My knee injury is quite serious and it’s hard to recover from. I don’t know if I’m afraid to give it my all, but when I’m in pain it’s hard to play at my best. It’s very difficult to get back to where I was, especially after such a long break.
Simona Halep via Golazo
Simona Halep had received invitations to the Auckland and Australian Open tournaments. However she was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury. The Romanian remarked that the thought of retirement often crosses her mind. She added that she is old now and has injuries that she can’t recover from.
Simona Halep will play her first tournament of the year at the Transylvania Open
Looking back at her career, Halep feels that everything she has done in tennis has been extraordinary. She added that she has worked for it and she feels like a very accomplished tennis player. Halep won her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open in 2018 where she defeated Sloane Stephens. She won her next Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2019 where she defeated Serena Williams in straight sets.
However, now Halep believes she would like to do something else, not just tennis. She reiterated that tennis isn’t the whole of life and she has many more desires and goals in this life, after tennis.
The thought of retiring crosses my mind very often. I’ve reached an age where I have injuries that I don’t recover from easily. My knee won’t heal completely. I’ve been advised to have surgery, but it’s a complicated procedure and I don’t think I’ll do it. We’ll see what happens next. Life goes on and I’ll take things as they come.
Simona Halep added
Simona Halep will return to the court and play her first match of the year at the Transylvania Open, in Cluj. The Transylvania Open takes place between February 1-9, and the matches will be held on the indoor court at BTarena.
This is the first time Halep will be able to perform in front of her home audience at the Transylvania Open, after the inaugural edition in 2021, when she lost the final to Estonian player Anett Kontaveit. The 2021 edition was held without spectators due to the pandemic.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2620 Articles Published)