As the Romanian told the home fans, she has achieved all that she set out to do and winning the French Open and Wimbledon and also earning the World Number 1 Ranking and Simona Halep has to be credited for the career she has put together.
Injury has perhaps hastened the exit from the sport, but Halep sounded pretty happy about her decision and that is all any player can do when moving onto the next stage of their career.
The tournaments being played this week continue on Wednesday and there are a couple of selections from the events in Abu Dhabi and Rotterdam.
Alex De Minaur got the week off to a winning start, but hopefully that can be backed up with a couple more winners to just keep things ticking over.
Daria Kasatkina - 2.5 games v Ashlyn Krueger: Reaching the Quarter Final in Adelaide and following up with a Fourth Round run at the Australian Open means World Number 11 Daria Kasatkina has made a positive start to the season.
Twelve months ago, Daria Kasatkina reached the Final here in Abu Dhabi before a couple of disappointing early exits in Doha and Dubai and this is a month where she will be looking to move back into the top ten of the World Rankings.
An administrative error has led to some headlines that Daria Kasatkina would have preferred to avoid- her name was placed alongside the Spanish flag during the draw ceremony and that led to some believing Kasatkina may have switched allegiance from Russia to Spain, which has since been denied and an apology issued to the player.
It was already going to be difficult for Kasatkina to return home and this has not really helped at all, so it will be a challenge for the player to focus on her tennis.
The hope has to be that Daria Kasatkina will benefit from this match taking place in the middle of the week and a few days after the draw ceremony had been run. Her performances on the hard courts this season and over the last twelve months makes Daria Kasatkina a solid performer on the surface and she will be expecting to get the better of Ashlyn Krueger.
The 20 year old American is an improving player on the Tour and reached a new career high World Ranking at the end of last month.
A tough three set win in the First Round will have given Ashlyn Krueger a boost and she has reached the Quarter Final in both Brisbane and Adelaide before losing early at the Australian Open. The draw was a tough one in Melbourne against Ajla Tomljanovic who had the fans behind her, and the next step for Ashlyn Krueger in her development is to find more successes when facing the better players on the Tour.
Over the last twelve months, the American has an 8-12 record on the hard courts when facing top 50 Ranked opponents, and the key will be improving the returning aspect of her tennis in those matches.
She will feel she can get her teeth into the Daria Kasatkina service games, but this is a test for Ashlyn Krueger having lost to this opponent in the Second Round in Abu Dhabi last year. In that match it was Daria Kasatkina who took her chances when the Break Points were earned and her hard court performances over the last month do give the higher Ranked player an edge.
Wins over Marta Kostyuk and Paula Badosa last month in Adelaide means Krueger deserves to be given a lot of respect and especially having had a win under her belt here in Abu Dhabi.
However, Daria Kasatkina may still have an edge on the hard courts between these players and the World Number 11 can win this Second Round match and put the controversy from earlier in the week behind her.
Jiri Lehecka-Hubert Hurkacz over 23.5 games: A serious injury hampered Hubert Hurkacz through the second half of the 2024 season, even if he was somehow able to play through the pain.
He did reach the Quarter Final in Cincinnati, but Hubert Hurkacz played just five more matches in 2024 and the off-season was important for the World Number 21. Some solid performances were produced at the United Cup, but Hubert Hurkacz will be disappointed with the lack of an impact at the Australian Open before the First Round win here in Rotterdam.
This is going to be a very tough match for Hubert Hurkacz against an opponent who is close to cracking the top 20 in the World Rankings for the first time.
Last month Jiri Lehecka was able to win a title in Brisbane and he reached the Fourth Round at the Australian Open before being beaten by Novak Djokovic in a more competitive match than the straight sets defeat would have suggested. The current World Number 24 was an impressive opening winner in Rotterdam and Jiri Lehecka has really been making the best use out of his serve.
It has led to 92% of his service games being held and Jiri Lehecka will feel he can certainly keep on top of the Hubert Hurkacz return, which has been something of a weakness for the Polish player.
The 4-4 record on the hard courts is one thing, but Hubert Hurkacz has only broken in 13% of return games played and that number is not going to be offering much encouragement against the serve he is facing in the Second Round on an indoor hard court.
This may mean there is some pressure on Hubert Hurkacz to serve well, although he has shown himself to be a player that can do that with 90% of service games held on this surface over the last month.
Jiri Lehecka and Hubert Hurkacz met here in Rotterdam twelve months ago and there was just a single break of serve in a three set match with both dominant behind that shot. More of the same can be expected when they meet again in the Second Round in 2025 and there is every chance that both of the opening two sets may need tie-breakers to separate the two.
Any need for a third set should see the total games line comfortably surpassed, but the serving power of Lehecka and Hurkacz could see this inflated line beaten even in a straight sets win for either player.
MY PICKS: Daria Kasatkina - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Jiri Lehecka-Hubert Hurkacz Over 23.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Fred (1 Unit)
Weekly Update: 1-0, + 0.83 Units (1 Unit Staked, + 83% Yield)
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