One of the most important in Halep's career was her victory at Wimbledon in London // Photo: gettyimages.com.
Two mixed duos will meet in the match. Halep will be paired with the leading Moldovan tennis player Radu Albot, while del Potro will be paired with young Lea Belibova. This was announced by Natalia Belibova, Secretary General of the Moldovan Tennis Federation.
World-class tennis is coming to Moldova
For the first time, Moldova will be visited by such important sportsmen in the history of tennis as Simona Halep and Juan Manuel del Potro. Halep will come to Chisinau one year and three months after the end of her professional career, while del Potro officially retired from big tennis in December 2024.
Halep was serving a disqualification and spent about a year on court after appealing the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. After that, she declared herself fully realized in the sport. Del Potro’s decision was influenced by his health condition, as he had been rehabilitating from a knee injury for a long time.
Halep headed the WTA ranking at the end of 2017. During her career, the tennis player won two Grand Slam tournaments – Roland Garros (2018) and Wimbledon (2019) and earned $40.2 million in prize money.
In contrast, del Potro has only conquered one Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open (2009). In 2018, he was climbing to No. 3 in the ATP rankings, the highest position of his own career. He earned $25.9 million in prize money.
Radu Albot, also invited to the exhibition match, is the most successful Moldovan tennis player. In 2019, he was climbing to 39th place in the ATP rankings. In the same year, he won the only ATP tournament of his career – in Delray Beach (USA). Albot was also the winner of two ATP Challenger tournaments. In singles, he won the tournament in Kolkata (India) in 2022, and in 2015, in a pair with Serbian tennis player Dusan Lajovic won in Istanbul (Turkey).
The exhibition match will take place on May 23, two days before the start of the ATP Challenger 100 tournament. Halep, along with del Potro and Albot, will participate in the opening ceremony of the National Tennis Center, which will precede the match.
A tournament of greater significance
Last year Moldova for the first time in history held a tournament of the ATP Challenger 50 series. The winner in singles was Frenchman Clement Chide, in doubles – Shimon Keman and Filip Pieczonka from Poland. The prize fund of the tournament amounted to €54 thousand, the winners received €7.5 thousand each.
This year’s tournament will be more significant, as the tournament will be played not 50 rating points, but 100. The tournament will be held in Chisinau from May 25 to 31. The prize fund of the tournament has not yet been announced, but, on average, at tournaments of this level in 2026, it varies from € 150 thousand to € 200 thousand.
