The 2026 season can be Sorana Cirstea’s farewell to the professional circuit.
The 35-year-old Cirstea introduced she’s going to retire after the 2026 season.
“I really like tennis. I really like the self-discipline, the routines, the arduous work,” Cirstea posted on Instagram. “The competitors and the adrenaline gas my soul. However like the whole lot in life, it should come to an finish.
“Subsequent 12 months it will likely be my twentieth 12 months on tour as knowledgeable tennis participant. I by no means anticipated to compete for such a very long time, however the final couple of years have been my happiest on court docket and so they simply saved me going. That being stated, I’ve now determined that 2026 can be my final 12 months on tour.”
Cirstea calls her farewell season “not a farewell, however a see you yet one more time.”
“Once you love one thing a lot, it’s not simple to say “good bye”. For now although this isn’t a farewell, however a “see you yet one more time”,” Cirstea stated. “I nonetheless have plenty of issues I wish to enhance, I’ve objectives and ambitions, so I hope to have the ability to obtain a few of them subsequent 12 months and end this excellent profession on a excessive be aware and on my phrases.”
Final August, Cirstea transformed her fifth championship level defeating American Ann Li 6-2, 6-4 to seize the WTA 250 title in Cleveland. Contesting her seventh profession closing, Cirstea collected her third profession Tour-level championship with out surrendering a set.
It got here 17 years after the Romanian veteran gained her maiden crown in Tashkent and 4 years after she gained Istanbul.
