Novak Djokovic took a moment to pay tribute to Simona Halep as the Serb hailed the Romanian’s career as amazing after the 33-year-old walked away from pro tennis this week.
After dealing with a lingering knee issue for quite some time and being limited to only a handful of tournaments since being cleared to return to tennis, the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon champion called it a career in front of her home fans in Cluj-Napoca this week.
For around a decade, Halep was one of the best players on the WTA Tour as she won two out of her five Grand Slam finals played and she also held the world No. 1 spot for a total of 64 weeks.
She was also the first Romanian WTA player to win a Wimbledon title.
“Congratulations on (an) amazing career Simona,” Djokovic wrote on his Instagram Story.
Halep hinted she could soon retire; then did so two days later
After hinting at retiring soon due to a knee injury during her pre-tournament presser in Cluj-Napoca, the former world No. 1 played her first-round match on Tuesday.
And after Lucia Bronzetti saw her off with a 6-1 6-1 scoreline, the 33-year-old ook the microphone and announced that was the last match of her career.
Since everything was prepared, it was clear that Halep arranged everything with the organizers before and Sorana Cirstea – a fellow Romanian player who was on the court during the ceremony – also knew what was going to happen.
“Tonight, I don’t know if it’s with joy or sadness, I think both feelings are trying me but I’m making this decision with my soul,” the former world No. 1 told Romanian fans during her speech.
“I’ve always been realistic with myself and with my body.
“Where I probably was, it’s very hard to get there and I know what it means to get there. That’s why I wanted to come here today in Cluj to play in front of you and say goodbye.”
