The tennis community was shocked when Simona Halep was provisionally suspended for doping in 2022. It all happened after she tested positive for the banned substance, Roxadustat, at the 2022 US Open. Though the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) had initially banned her for four years in 2023, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced that suspension to nine months in March, 2024. Now, a year after her retirement, Halep made it clear how she feels about her doping suspension.

“There was a lot of mental exhaustion, a lot of physical wear and tear, and during my career, I think I was so focused that it didn’t always allow me to feel how hard everything really was,” she said in an interview with Eurosport. “I don’t regret anything. I would do it all over again because tennis gave me incredible moments and emotions that will stay with me forever.” [Trans. from Spanish]

Halep was ranked No. 10 in the world at the end of 2022. Though the Romanian hadn’t won a Grand Slam for three years, she was still very well in the scheme of things by that time. However, the suspension saw her ranking drop all the way down to No. 1138 by the end of 2023. She would have remained banned until 2026 if the CAS hadn’t reduced her suspension following an appeal.

The ban had been reduced because the CAS had ruled that Halep’s actions weren’t intentional. As a result, she was able to make her return to the tour at the 2024 Miami Open. And upon returning, Halep was grateful to find out her support system remained intact.

“When I returned to the circuit, I felt a lot of affection and empathy from the tennis people. Both players and people on the WTA staff who have known me for almost 20 years showed me that they never doubted me and that they knew that I would never consciously break the rules,” she further said in the interview.

But the former World No. 1 was already 32 at this point, and it was clear that she wasn’t at her best. Halep got knocked out in the first round of the Miami Open by Paula Badosa. She then suffered another first-round exit at the WTA 125 event in Paris against McCartney Kessler. She would then be absent for almost the next five months before playing the 125 event in Hong Kong.

Here, Halep did manage to get her first win since her return, but then bowed out in the second round to Anna Blinkova. A first-round defeat to Yue Yuan at the Hong Kong Open was her final match of the season. The veteran would then be in action at the 2025 Transylvania Open in Romania.

But a 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Lucia Bronzetti in the first round would lead her to announce an unexpected retirement after the match. It was quite a shocking but memorable farewell as the two-time Grand Slam winner got to say goodbye in front of her home fans.