Petra Kvitova and Patrick Mouratoglou react as Simona Halep announces her retirement from tennis

Patrick Mouratoglou and Petra Kvitova paid tribute to Simona Halep after she announced her retirement.

The Romanian bid farewell to tennis after she suffered defeat in the opening round of the Transylvania Open.

Halep delivered an emotional speech in front of her home fans and brought an end to a special career that produced two Grand Slam titles.

Now her former coach and one of her former rivals have sent her messages of support after Halep decided to hang up her racket.

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Patrick Mouratoglou and Petra Kvitova react to Simona Halep’s retirement

Simona Halep‘s last match was a 1-6, 1-6 defeat to Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti at the Transylvania Open.

This was the 34-year-old’s first match since the Hong Kong Open in October 2024, and now she has decided it will be her last.

She has received plenty of messages and tributes since her retirement including from her fellow two-time Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova who wrote on Instagram: “Congrats Simona Halep on an amazing career.”

Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached Halep in the final years of her career, posted: “You can be proud of an exceptional career Simona Halep.”

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Simona Halep’s record against Petra Kvitova and how long was she coached by Patrick Mouratoglou?

Halep and Kvitova played one another four times on the WTA Tour.

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The Romanian won the first of those matches, including the 2013 New Haven final and a Fed Cup tie in 2016.

Kvitova won their last contest when she dropped just three games to win their Wuhan Open semi-final, and she went on to win the title.

Mouratoglou began coaching Halep in the spring of 2022, but their partnership was short-lived.

Under the Frenchman Halep reached the Wimbledon semi-finals and won the Canadian Open, but they stopped working together soon after she was handed a four-year ban for testing positive for a banned substance.

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