Li Na nominated in Laureus World Sports Awards

Australian Open tennis champion China's Li Na waves to the crowd as she stands next to the women's singles trophy during an official ceremony on Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park Jan 19, 2015. Retired Australian Open champion Li told the centre court crowd at Melbourne Park on Monday that she was expecting her first child with her husband and former coach Jiang Shan.[Photo/Agencies]

SHANGHAI - Retired Chinese tennis queen Li Na has been nominated for sportswoman of the year in the Laureus World Sports Awards.

The organizers unveiled the nominations on Wednesday here, which is a glittering collection of the world's greatest sports stars for the 2015 edition of the prestigious awards following a ballot by the world's media.

Li, now expecting a baby after she retired in last October, will compete for the women's title against another tennis legend, Serena Williams, in a six-woman field.

In the men's field, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo will be up against number one golfer Rory McIlroy and Formula One motor racing champion Lewis Hamilton. Also joining the race are tennis world number one Novak Djokovic and World MotoGP title-holder Marc Marquez, as well as France's Renaud Lavillenie, who broke a 21-year-old world record for the pole vault last year.

Ronaldo's club, Spain's Real Madrid, is in the running for team of the year, together with the German men's team which won the FIFA World Cup, European Ryder Cup team, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team, NBA's San Antonio Spurs and Switzerland Davis Cup team.

The winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony in Shanghai on April 15.