ST. PETERSBURG, US — Germany's Angelique Kerber, who won two of the season's four Grand Slam titles, secured the year-ending world No. 1 ranking Thursday, the WTA announced.
Kerber is the 12th player to achieve the year-end top spot and only the second German woman after Steffi Graf, who achieved the feat a record of eight times.
"It is a great honor and achievement to finish the year as the No.1 player in the world," said Kerber, who will look to finish 2016 in style next week at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
"This is one of the things I've always been dreaming of — to become No.1. I have worked extremely hard to become the best player I can be and this is a reflection of that effort and the wonderful year I have had."
Kerber became the oldest player to make her debut at No. 1 on September 12 at 28 years old.
She succeeds Serena Williams who held the year-end No. 1 ranking for the past three years.
Kerber began the season by claiming her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in her first major final.
She also advanced to the Wimbledon final, captured a silver medal in singles at the Rio Olympics, and claimed her second Grand Slam title at the US Open.
Nadal ends season
Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal called time on his 2016 season Thursday saying he needed to fully recover from the left wrist injury he suffered midway through the year.
The Spanish 14-time Gram Slam champion said he would play no more tournaments and would instead begin "preparing intensively" for the 2017 season.
Nadal, ranked sixth, had been due to play in Basel and Paris and was on course to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals which features the top eight in the rankings.
The Spaniard's great career rival Roger Federer will also be missing from the season-ender in London after the Swiss also curtailed his season to recover from a knee problem.
This year is only the second in his career since 2004 that he has not managed to win one of the Grand Slams, following a similarly disappointing 2015.
