Halep stches top spot

Madrid, Oct 9: Simo Halep stched first place in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings released on Monday after she qualified for the Chi Open fil.

The 26-year-old Romanian player reached the top spot for the first time in her career, putting an end to the four-week reign of Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza, who dropped to second place, reports Efe news agency.

Karoli Pliskova of the Czech Republic jumped to third, while Ukrainian Eli Svitoli dropped to fourth.

American Venus Williams came fifth, followed by Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki. Latvia’s Jele Ostapenko climbed to seventh, ahead of Russia’s Svetla Kuznetsova. Caroline Garcia of France jumped three positions to ninth after claiming the Chi Open title, while Britain’s Johan Konta dropped to 10th. IANS