'I DON'T WANT TO CRY': FORMER WORLD NO.1 ANNOUNCES SUDDEN RETIREMENT

Dual Grand Slam Champion and former world No.1 Simona Halep confirmed she played her final professional match overnight, announcing her retirement.

The 33-year-old entered the Winners Open in her home country of Romania, going down 1-6 1-6 to Italy's Lucia Bronzetti.

Moments after, Halep held the microphone to inform the crowd at Cluj-Napoca about her decision to retire immediately.

"I wanted to come here today in Cluj to play in front of you and say goodbye on the court to tennis," she said in Romanian.

"Even though my performance wasn't very good, it was still my soul and I'm very glad that you came. I wonder if I'll come back again but for now, it's the last time I've played here.

"I don't want to cry. It's a beautiful thing. I became world No.1, I won grand slams. It's all I wanted. Life goes on.

"There is life after tennis and I hope we will see each other again. Of course, I will continue to play tennis but to be competitive requires much more and at this moment, it is no longer possible."

Billie Jean King led the tributes on social media, applauding Halep for a stellar career.

"Simona is an incredible athlete, and has won more WTA titles (24) than any woman Romanian tennis player in history," the former American world No.1 wrote.

"Best of luck in the next steps of your journey, Simona."

Earlier this week, Halep spoke to Romanian publication Golazo about her recent knee injury admitting, "The thought of retiring crosses my mind very often. I’ve reached an age where I have injuries that are hard to recover from."

Halep won the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon title, having also held the No.1 ranking for 64 weeks.

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