Halep leads WTA rankings, Osaka climbs to 4th spot

Madrid, Jan 7 (IANS) Romania's Simona Halep led the first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings of the year, while Naomi Osaka of Japan and Czech Karolina Pliskova were among the climbers in the list issued on Monday.After reaching the Brisbane International semi-finals, US Open champion Osaka rose a spot to the fourth, with Brisbane winner Pliskova climbing one position to the seventh, reports Efe news.Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, meanwhile, fell from fourth to sixth, and Czech Petra Kvitova moved down to the eighth.The current WTA rankings and point scores are as follows:1. Simona Halep (Romania) 6,641 points2. Angelique Kerber (Germany) 5,8753. Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 5,4364. Naomi Osaka (Japan) 5,2705. Sloane Stephens (USA) 5,0236. Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 4,9407. Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) 4,7508. Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 4,6309. Kiki Bertens (The Netherlands) 4,36010. Daria Kasatkina (Russia) 3,415.
--IANS kk/bg