Simona Halep recently announced her retirement from professional tennis at the Winners Open in her native country of Romania. She was a former WTA No. 1 and a multi-time Grand Slam winner. She also battled through a suspension for a banned substance of which she has her ban reduced after she was found to not have been overly guilty of any intentional wrongdoing.
While the last few years of her professional life did not go the way she wanted (she was 1-5 on the WTA tour after returning from her suspension), she had proven herself to be a great player during most of her 20s. She was never an easy out when she was in her best form, and she mostly got along with other players on tour, whether that be the WTA or ATP.
Among those reacting to her retirement were Novak Djokovic, Boris Becker, and Billie Jean King. If the icons of the sport of tennis are making immediate reactions to your announcement, you know you have done something well in your career.
Simona Halep responses, Reilly Opelka is miffed, and WTA Indian Wells field
Djokovic wrote on Halep's Instagram page, "Congratulations on amazing career Simona."
Becker wrote on X/Twitter, "Well done Simo! What an amazing career!"
Well done Simo !
— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) February 6, 2025
What an amazing career !
2 Majors and Nr.1 in the world ….
Now enjoy retirement! https://t.co/2qlJIQAq2w
Billie Jean King responded in kind on X/Twitter, "Simona is an incredible athlete, and has won more WTA titles (24) than any woman Romanian tennis player in history."
In completely different news, American Reilly Opelka is mad at one official. After defeating Cam Norrie at the Dallas Open recently Opelka, who was heckled by a "fan" during the match and even asked what they were doing there, voiced his frustrations to journalist Cheryl Murray post-match about chair umpire Greg Allensworth not doing more to control the crowd.
Opelka told Murray, "Greg Allensworth is the worst ref (umpire) in the ATP. We were talking about him in the locker room, all the players, it really is a coincidence about two days ago (we were talking about the worst umpire on the tour, and he) is the worst one...He (the heckler) was doing it for three points; (Allensworth) didn’t do his job, so I had to tell him ‘get out of here.’"
In other words, ouch.
Finally, if you are a fan of high-quality WTA tennis (and you should be), Indian Wells is not going to let you down. Among the list of players in the entry list to the tournament that begins on March 5 is every single player ranked in the top 32. The list includes Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and Elena Rybakina.
Indian Wells is often called the fifth major because it begins the US hard-court season and is stuck between January's Australian Open and May's French Open. The field also implies how important it is. It is must-watch tennis for fans of the sport.