Season 2026 will be the farewell tour for Sorana Cirstea.
Entering her twentieth season on the WTA Tour, Cirstea revealed in a Instagram post that the 2026 season will be its finale.
"I love tennis. I love the discipline, the routines, the hard work. The competition and the adrenaline feed my soul," Cirstea wrote. "But like everything in life, it must come to an end.
"Next year will be my twentieth year on tour as a professional tennis player. I never expected to compete for so long, but the last few years have been my happiest on court and they just kept me going. That said, I have now decided that 2026 will be my last year on tour."
It has been a remarkable career for the 35-year-old veteran of Romania, who has won three singles titles and six doubles titles. She is also a two-time Olympian (2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London).
She turned professional in 2006 and reached her first WTA final in Budapest, Hungary, in 2007. In 2008, she won her first WTA singles title in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, defeating Sabine Lisicki. By the end of the year she was ranked No. 36 in singles and was her country's No. 1 player at the age of 18.
Cirstea's breakthrough came in 2009 at Roland Garros, where she reached the quarter-finals. Along the way, Cirstea defeated No. 21 seed Alize Cornet, No. 10 seed Caroline Wozniacki and No. 5 seed Jelena Jankovic.
The quarterfinal remains Cirstea's best at a Grand Slam, equaling her quarterfinal at the 2023 US Open, where she defeated Elena Rybakina in one of the biggest wins of her career. Earlier in 2023, she upset then-world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open quarterfinals to reach her second career WTA 1000 semifinal.
"When you love something so much, it's not easy to say goodbye," Cirstea added. 'For now, however, this is not goodbye, but see you later.
"I still have a lot of things I want to improve, I have goals and ambitions, so I hope to achieve some of them next year and finish this wonderful career at a high level and on my terms."
The Romanian reached a singles ranking of No. 21 in August 2013, and she is currently ranked No. 43 in the world.
Cirstea recently won her third singles trophy in Cleveland last August, more than four years after her previous title at the 2021 Istanbul Cup. She also won her sixth doubles title in Madrid this year, alongside Anna Kalinskaya.
"I look forward to seeing all my fans, friends and loved ones off the field for one last dance around the world," concluded Cirstea.
"Thank you Tennis, I will be forever indebted to you. See you in 2026 and thank you all for your unconditional support!"