Serena Williams maintained first place in the women's tennis rankings while Li Na climbed into fifth in the WTA list issued on Monday despite retiring from the sport.
The US Open champion Williams commands the rankings with 9,430
points ahead of Simona Halep (6,160) and Petra Kvitova (5,926).
Li moved up one place into fifth owing to WTA arithmetics which take into account results over the past 52 weeks. The two-time grand slam winner and Chinese sports icon remains in the rankings although she quit tennis last week. WTA rankings as of September 22
1. Serena Williams (USA) 9,430
2. Simona Halep (ROM) 6,160
3. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 5,926
4. Maria Sharapova (RUS) 5,575
5. Li Na (CHN) 5,270 (+1)
6. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 5,200 (-1)
7. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 4,500 (+2)
8. Angelique Kerber (GER) 4,480
9. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 4,433
10. Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 4,180
11. Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 3,655
12. Sara Errani (ITA) 3,215
13. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 3,106
14. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 2,845
15. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 2,785
16. Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 2,651
17. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 2,525
18. Venus Williams (USA) 2,495
19. Carla Suarez (ESP) 2,420
20. Samantha Stosur (AUS) 2,110 – AFP/Sapa-DPA