Serena Is Back At No. 1

Sports Betting News - October 6th, 2009 - Written by John

There has been a lot of controversy ever since Wimbledon on who should be the world's no. 1-ranked female tennis player. Well, Darina Safina pretty much settled it herself. As of yesterday, she was one of the most villified players to hold the top spot due to faulty rankings, although Serena Williams won the Wimbledon dish.

But she surrendered the the ranking today when she suffered the worst loss by a no. 1 player in the history of the rankings. She lost to 226th-ranked Zhang Shuai in straight sets and Williams won her match against Ekaterina Makarova in the second round of the China Open Tuesday. It was enough to reclaim what many believe his her rightful spot at the top.

"It feels pretty good. I'm really excited, I guess," Williams said. "I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, but I'm obviously happy to be there because I feel like I've been working so hard all year and just happy to be back."

With the chance to return to no. 1, Williams blew pass Makarova in just over an hour and only double-faulted once.

Williams has been no. 1 for 72 total weeks, including a two-and-a-half month stretch earlier this year, but fell to no. 2 despite winning at Wimbledon. Critics have blamed a faulty system that only gives double points to bigger wins, allowing two wins in minor tournaments to carry the same weight as a major.

Safina's humbling effort was the first time a no. 1 had ever lost to a player in below 200. Last year, Ana Ivanovic lost to 188th ranked Julie Cohn as the top-ranked player.

“I would like to take some break now ," Safina told the AP. "I'm very upset with myself."

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