Halep, Djokovic top first 2019 tennis rankings

MADRID, Jan 08 (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.

Meanwhile, Serbia's Novak Djokovic led the way in the first men's Association of Tennis Professionals world singles rankings of the year released on Monday, with Spain's Rafael Nadal in second place.

Freshly crowned Hopman Cup champion Roger Federer of Switzerland remained in the third spot in this week's unchanged top 10, followed by Alexander Zverev of Germany and Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, reports Efe news.

Further down the rankings, Australia's Nick Kyrgios fell 16 spots to 51 after he was eliminated from the second round of Brisbane International by France's Jeremy Chardy, who climbed four positions to 36 in the list that was issued a week ahead of the start of the Australian Open grand slam.