Serena Williams reclaims No. 1 ranking from Safina

BEIJING: Serena Williams reclaimed her world No. 1 ranking with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova in the second round of the China Open on Tuesday.

SerenaMakarovaAFP

Based on pre-tournament calculations, Williams moves to the top ranking by finishing better than current No. 1 Dinara Safina at the tournament. Safina lost to local wild card entrant Zhang Shuai in the second round on Monday.

Williams needed just over one hour for the relaxed victory in which she fired three aces and conceded just one double fault.

The WTA reported that Safina’s upset loss made No. 226 Zhang the lowest ranked woman ever to defeat a world No. 1. Frenchwoman Julie Coin held the previous record, having a No. 188 ranking when she beat then No. 1 Ana Ivanovic at last year’s US Open. —AP

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