Peng Shuai Joins Li Na To Mark First Time Two Chinese Players Rank In The Top 15 On The WTA Rankings

Peng Shuai

For the first time in WTA history, two players from China are ranked in the top 15 singles players in the world. It’s no surprise that 2011 Roland Garros champion Li Na is in the top 15 of the rankings published August 15, 2011. Li Na is ranked #5. Joining her in the top 15, at #15, is countrywoman Peng Shuai. While Li Na’s has ascended to stardom in 2011, now ranking among the 10 best paid female athletes in the world, Peng Shuai (family name, Peng) started the year ranked #72 and has had quite the brisk ascendancy herself.

Peng has yet to win a WTA singles title (she has 7 doubles titles), but she did make the final at Brussels 2011 and pushed world #1 Caroline Wozniacki to 3 sets. She has also scored victories in 2011 over top players Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova (twice), Jelena Jankovic, Francesca Schiavone, and Li Na. Although only 25, Peng has been around for some time, so I don’t know if she’s just having a good year and will slip back to the pack or if this marks the beginning of a stay among the top players for her. However, tennis is growing in popularity in China. With Li Na in the twilight of her career perhaps, to keep the flame going 3 or 4 years down the line, allowing young players to develop in China, other players besides Li need to step up.

Rankings (8/15/2011)

Curr	Prev	Name	DOB	Nation	Rank pts	Tours
1	1	Wozniacki, Caroline	11/07/90	DEN	9915	22
2	3	Zvonareva, Vera	07/09/84	RUS	7045	21
3	2	Clijsters, Kim	08/06/83	BEL	6726	15
4	4	Azarenka, Victoria	31/07/89	BLR	6390	21
5	6	Li, Na	26/02/82	CHN	5671	18
6	7	Kvitova, Petra	08/03/90	CZE	5561	21
7	5	Sharapova, Maria	19/04/87	RUS	5446	14
8	8	Schiavone, Francesca	23/06/80	ITA	4955	21
9	9	Bartoli, Marion	02/10/84	FRA	4325	26
10	11	Stosur, Samantha	30/03/84	AUS	3775	21
11	10	Petkovic, Andrea	09/09/87	GER	3530	22
12	12	Radwanska, Agnieszka	06/03/89	POL	3335	18
13	15	Kuznetsova, Svetlana	27/06/85	RUS	2751	18
14	14	Jankovic, Jelena	28/02/85	SRB	2710	21
15	17	Peng, Shuai	08/01/86	CHN	2600	23
16	18	Cibulkova, Dominika	06/05/89	SVK	2595	22
17	16	Ivanovic, Ana	06/11/87	SRB	2415	21
18	13	Pavlyuchenkova, Anastasia	03/07/91	RUS	2410	22
19	22	Vinci, Roberta	18/02/83	ITA	2350	28
20	20	Goerges, Julia	02/11/88	GER	2335	25
21	19	Wickmayer, Yanina	20/10/89	BEL	2320	23
22	21	Lisicki, Sabine	22/09/89	GER	2204	21
23	24	Hantuchova, Daniela	23/04/83	SVK	2115	27
24	23	Peer, Shahar	01/05/87	ISR	2090	21
25	25	Pennetta, Flavia	25/02/82	ITA	1905	21
26	26	Kirilenko, Maria	25/01/87	RUS	1875	24
27	28	Petrova, Nadia	08/06/82	RUS	1800	22
28	27	Kleybanova, Alisa	15/07/89	RUS	1795	22
29	32	Safarova, Lucie	04/02/87	CZE	1775	25
30	29	Gajdosova, Jarmila	26/04/87	AUS	1760	27
31	80	Williams, Serena	26/09/81	USA	1710	12
32	30	Kanepi, Kaia	10/06/85	EST	1632	19
33	31	Mattek-Sands, Bethanie	23/03/85	USA	1581	17
34	33	Medina Garrigues, Anabel	31/07/82	ESP	1540	24
35	37	Martinez Sanchez, Maria Jose	12/08/82	ESP	1505	21
36	34	Williams, Venus	17/06/80	USA	1460	12
37	35	Paszek, Tamira	06/12/90	AUT	1424	24
38	36	Errani, Sara	29/04/87	ITA	1420	27
39	39	Marino, Rebecca	16/12/90	CAN	1322	25
40	41	Makarova, Ekaterina	07/06/88	RUS	1320	24
41	45	Benesova, Iveta	01/02/83	CZE	1310	26
42	40	Hercog, Polona	20/01/91	SLO	1305	28
43	38	Vesnina, Elena	01/08/86	RUS	1245	24
44	43	Zakopalova, Klara	24/02/82	CZE	1235	27
45	44	Cetkovska, Petra	08/02/85	CZE	1222	22
46	46	Begu, Irina-Camelia	26/08/90	ROU	1201	21
47	47	Dominguez Lino, Lourdes	31/03/81	ESP	1200	24
48	42	Morita, Ayumi	11/03/90	JPN	1193	30
49	48	Hradecka, Lucie	21/05/85	CZE	1181	27
50	49	Dulgheru, Alexandra	30/05/89	ROU	1166	23