To win a grand slam title is something every tennis player dreams of from the day they start swinging their racquet. Despite the difficulty of winning a grand slam tournament, only a select few have dominated on the biggest stage throughout the years.

Former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep announced her retirement at age 33 after losing in the first round at her home event in Romania.

Halep was a hugely popular first-time Grand Slam champion, well-liked in the dressing room and within the sport in general for her groundedness and apparent lack of ego. Her desperation to win a major was well known and after Halep won in Paris, Martina Navratilova joked: “It wasn’t a monkey off her back; this was an 800lb gorilla.”

Two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep has announced her retirement from tennis after losing her first match of 2025 at the Transylvania Open.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep has announced her retirement from professional tennis. Surprisingly, she announced this incredible development after she lost to Lucia Bronzetti at the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca.

Halep, 33, had struggled to regain her best form after being suspended in October 2022 for testing positive for a banned substance.