American tennis star Venus Williams has jumped 15 places in the latest WTA rankings thanks in no small part to her recent triumph at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Previously ranked No44, Williams has climbed into the top 30 at No29 two days after lifting her third title in Dubai where she defeated Frenchwoman Alize Cornet – also up in the rankings from 26th to 23rd.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams rolled back the years last week when she knocked out a succession of seeded players while never dropping a set.
Younger Williams sister Serena, who reached the semi-finals in Dubai, retains her place at the top of the rankings by a considerable margin, with almost double the points as world No2 and Australian Open champion Li Na.
Petra Kvitova – the 2013 Dubai Champion – fell three places to ninth after getting eliminated in the second round last week, while a shock first round loss at the Australian Open also did her little favours.
While there we no changes in the order of the top five, there was plenty of movement in the four following places.
As well as the drop by Kvitova, Jelena Jankovic fell a place to eighth as Doha champion Simona Halep and her final opponent Angelique Kerber climbed to seventh and sixth respectively.
WTA TOP TEN RANKINGS
1 Serena Williams (USA) – 12660pts
2 Li Na (China) – 6795pts
3 Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) – 5705pts
4 Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) – 5681pts
5 Maria Sharapova (Russia) – 5206pts
6 Angelique Kerber (Germany) – 4490pts
7 Simona Halep (Romania) – 4435pts
8 Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) – 4380pts
9 Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) – 4365pts
10 Sara Errani (Italy) – 4195pts
