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Li Na officially removes her name from the WTA Rankings

Li Na officially removes her name from the WTA Rankings.

Li Na has officially removed her name from the WTA rankings a week after finishing the season at No. 9. The two-time Slam champion, who reached a career-high No. 2 this year, ends her career with her fourth consecutive top ten finish, quite a feat given she did not play a match after Wimbledon.

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Li's decision to take her name off the rankings -- she could have let it fall off naturally -- has some rankings implications for players ranked below her. Dominika Cibulkova, who lost to Li in the Australian Open final, moves up from No. 11 to No. 10, matching her career-high. U.S. Open semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova matches her career-high ranking as well, moving up to No. 11. Garbine Muguruza, who had a breakout season after undergoing ankle surgery last year, moves from No. 21 to No. 20 to become the seventh Spanish player to break into the top 20. Muguruza won her first WTA title in Hobart, Australia, in January and made the quarterfinals of the French Open after upending No. 1 Serena Williams in the second round. 

Also moving up to career highs thanks to Li: Karolina Pliskova (No. 23), Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who beat Li in the last match of her career (No. 25), and Elina Svitolina (No. 28).

Here's how the WTA Top 25 looks now:

  1. Serena Williams
  2. Maria Sharapova
  3. Simona Halep
  4. Petra Kvitova
  5. Ana Ivanovic
  6. Agnieszka Radwanksa
  7. Eugenie Bouchard
  8. Caroline Wozniacki
  9. ​Angelique Kerber
  10. Dominika Cibulkova
  11. Ekaterina Makarova
  12. Flavia Pennetta
  13. Andrea Petkovic
  14. Sara Errani
  15. Jelena Jankovic
  16. Lucie Safarova
  17. Carla Suarez Navarro
  18. Venus Williams
  19. Alize Cornet
  20. Garbine Muguruza
  21. Peng Shuai
  22. Karolina Pliskova
  23. Sam Stosur
  24. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
  25. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova

The best of Li Na quotes: Funny, witty and memorable