Australia's Ashleigh Barty ends season at top of WTA rankings

Australian tennis player Ashleigh Barty on Monday ended her season at the top of the women's singles rankings released by the Women's Tennis Association following her victory at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China.

On Sunday, the 23-year-old swept aside eighth-seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3 in the summit showdown of the recently-concluded tournament at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center.

Barty is now leading the ranking charts with 7,851 points, maintaining a comfortable lead of 1,911 points over second-placed Karolina Pliskova of Czech.

Meanwhile, Japan's Naomi Osaka is occupying the third spot, followed by Simona Halep of Romania and Bianca Andreescu of Canada, the WTA reported. 

Svitolina, on the other hand, has climbed up two places to grab the sixth spot following her runner-up finish in the WTA Finals. 

Netherland's Kiki Bertens, who retired hurt in the group stage of the season-ending tournament, has dethroned America's Serena Williams from the ninth spot in the latest rankings. 

The latest WTA top 10 are:

1. Ashleigh Barty (Australia) 7,851 points

2. Karolína Pliskova (Czech) 5,940 points

3. Naomi Osaka (Japan) 5,496 points

4. Simona Halep (Romania) 5,462 points

5. Bianca Andreescu (Canada) 5,192 points

6. Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 5,075 points

7. Petra Kvitova (Czech) 4,776 points

8. Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) 4,745 points

9. Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) 4,245 points

10. Serena Williams (USA) 3,935