Li, who won her second Grand Slam title at last month’s Australian Open, underlined her status as the best ever Asian women’s player by rising to second behind Serena Williams.
The Wuhan native, who turns 32 later this month, had already achieved the highest ranking by an Asian woman by reaching world number three last year.
She now moves to second spot with 6,690 points, still some distance behind American great Williams, the 17-time Grand Slam title-winner, on 12,380.
Li’s continuing success is a huge plus for women’s tennis, which has bet big on Asia by organising several tournaments in the region this year including one in Wuhan.
‘As they have done throughout their careers, both players (Li and Peng) continue to set new milestones for Chinese tennis,’ Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) chief Stacey Allaster said in a statement.
‘Their accomplishments are truly inspirational and the WTA is fortunate to have such ambassadors representing the sport around the world.’
Meanwhile Peng, 28, became the first Chinese player to top the doubles rankings, with her Taiwanese partner Hsieh Su-wei second.’I think this is really amazing and a great moment for me,’ said Peng, after she confirmed the ranking by winning the Qatar Open with Hsieh on Sunday. ‘This is a really special time.’
Practice is boring: Serena
SINGAPORE: Serena Williams says she asked for a wildcard into the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to combat boredom once she believed her back injury was on the mend.
‘My back finally started to feel better but it wasn’t better in time for me to play Doha at the level I’d like to play,’ said Williams.
‘It gets boring to have to practice every day. I was like, `I don’t want to practice anymore. I want to play a match.’
The Wuhan native, who turns 32 later this month, had already achieved the highest ranking by an Asian woman by reaching world number three last year.
She now moves to second spot with 6,690 points, still some distance behind American great Williams, the 17-time Grand Slam title-winner, on 12,380.
Li’s continuing success is a huge plus for women’s tennis, which has bet big on Asia by organising several tournaments in the region this year including one in Wuhan.
‘As they have done throughout their careers, both players (Li and Peng) continue to set new milestones for Chinese tennis,’ Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) chief Stacey Allaster said in a statement.
‘Their accomplishments are truly inspirational and the WTA is fortunate to have such ambassadors representing the sport around the world.’
Meanwhile Peng, 28, became the first Chinese player to top the doubles rankings, with her Taiwanese partner Hsieh Su-wei second.’I think this is really amazing and a great moment for me,’ said Peng, after she confirmed the ranking by winning the Qatar Open with Hsieh on Sunday. ‘This is a really special time.’
Practice is boring: Serena
SINGAPORE: Serena Williams says she asked for a wildcard into the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to combat boredom once she believed her back injury was on the mend.
‘My back finally started to feel better but it wasn’t better in time for me to play Doha at the level I’d like to play,’ said Williams.
‘It gets boring to have to practice every day. I was like, `I don’t want to practice anymore. I want to play a match.’