Tennis: WTA rankings - Simona Halep finishes year as world leader

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep finishes 2017 as year-end world no.1 in the WTA rankings, as released on Monday, with 6,175 points. She is followed, 40 points behind, by Spanish Garbine Muguruza (6,135 p) and Dane Caroline Wozniacki (6,015 p) on the 3rd position.

The 4th position is taken by Czech player Karolina Pliskova (5,730 p) whom Simona Halep defeated yesterday (on Sunday) in the finals of the World Tennis Thailand Championship (6-2, 6-3). 

Romanian tennis players Sorana Carstea, number 37, 1,455 p, Irina Begu (43rd, 1,194 p), Mihaela Buzarnescu (56th, 1,027 p) and Monica Niculescu (79th, 784 points) are among the world's top 100 female professional players 

Here are the first 10 players in the rankings released on Monday, 25 December: 

1 (1) Simona Halep (Romania) 6,175 
2 (2) Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) 6,135 
3 (3) Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6,015 
4 (4) Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) 5,730 
5 (5) Venus Williams (USA) 5,597 
6 (6) Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 5,500 
7 (7) Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 5,010 
8 (8) Caroline Garcia (France) 4,385 
9 (9) Johanna Konta (United Kingdom) 3,610 
10 (10) CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) 3,258