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:
- Serena Williams
- Maria Sharapova
- Simona Halep
- Petra Kvitova
- Ana Ivanovic
- Agnieszka Radwanksa
- Eugenie Bouchard
- Caroline Wozniacki
- Angelique Kerber
- Dominika Cibulkova
- Ekaterina Makarova
- Flavia Pennetta
- Andrea Petkovic
- Sara Errani
- Jelena Jankovic
- Lucie Safarova
- Carla Suarez Navarro
- Venus Williams
- Alize Cornet
- Garbine Muguruza
- Peng Shuai
- Karolina Pliskova
- Sam Stosur
- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
- Barbora Zahlavova Strycova