Maria Sharapova retired from tennis by 2000.
The 2016 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 18 -- 31 January 2016 . The list of WTA number 1 ranked players shows the professional women 's tennis players who have been or currently are ranked world No. 1 by the Women 's Tennis Association , along with the dates of first reaching and losing that spot . Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова ; born April 19 , 1987 ) is a Russian professional tennis player . The WTA Finals ( formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships short : WTA Championships ) , is a professional tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women 's Tennis Association ( WTA ) tour . The Women 's Tennis Association ( WTA ) , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King , is the principal organizing body of women 's professional tennis .