Tennis
Zack Pierce
| Women's tennis power rankings | |||||
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Serena Williams takes over the No. 1 spot in our volatile women's Power Rankings after her run to the Wimbledon title. And she's not the only one who made a big move. How does it work? While the official WTA rankings take the entire previous year into account, our rankings deal only with the last four events in which each player has participated. This is designed to create a better estimate of who is hot now by putting the emphasis on recent action. We also take into account the quality of a player's wins and losses, meaning our rankings might look a lot different from the official ones. Disagree with our rankings? Sound off in the comments section below. Enjoy! Rankings account for events completed prior to July 15. A "+N/A" mark in the +/- column means the player was not ranked in the previous rankings. | |||||
| Rank | Player | +/- | ATP | Last four | Comment |
| 1 | Serena Williams | +5 | 2 | Wimbledon: W French: QF Madrid: 1R Rome: 2R |
 Her clay results were less than stellar, but her Wimbledon win has her back on top of tennis. She's second only to Dinara Safina in points in this stretch, and we can't put Safina No. 1. |
| 2 | Venus Williams | +2 | 3 | Wimbledon: F French: 3R Madrid: 2R Rome: SF |
 It's pretty clear that Venus and her sister are the best on fast surfaces when they want to be. Her romp to the Wimbledon final (before losing to Serena) makes her an easy choice for No. 2. |
| 3 | Svetlana Kuznetsova | -2 | 5 | Wimbledon: 3R Eastbourne: 1R French: W Madrid: 2R |
 She routed Safina in the French Open final before struggling mightily with the transition to grass. Still, just a little more than a month removed from a Grand Slam win, she has to be high on this list. |
| 4 | Dinara Safina | -2 | 1 | Wimbledon: SF 's-Hertogenbosch: SF French: F Madrid: W |
 The strongest overall set of results in this stretch belongs to Safina, but those dreadful losses to Kuznetsova in the French final and Venus in the Wimbledon semis are what keeps her at No. 4. |
| 5 | Victoria Azarenka | -2 | 8 | Wimbledon: QF French: QF Madrid: 3R Rome: SF |
 She's playing better than everyone below her, but Azarenka will have to crack into the semis at a Slam to start challenging the people above her. |
| 6 | Samantha Stosur | +N/A | 20 | Wimbledon: 3R Eastbourne: 2R French: SF Madrid: 2R |
 Stosur beat Dementieva at the French on her way to the semis there, good enough to give her a No. 6 spot on this list in the wide-open world of women's tennis. |
| 7 | Elena Dementieva | +N/A | 4 | Wimbledon: SF Eastbourne: 2R French: 3R Madrid: 3R |
 Sitting here pretty much entirely on the strength of her Wimbledon showing, Dementieva nearly beat Serena in the semis there. That would've changed everything on this list. |
| 8 | Caroline Wozniacki | -1 | 9 | Bastad: F Wimbledon: 4R Eastbourne: W French: 3R |
 Certainly not the Grand Slam results a top 10 player like Wozniacki would hope for, but she did well in the other two tourneys she played. |
| 9 | Agnieszka Radwanska | -1 | 14 | Wimbledon: QF Eastbourne: QF French: 4R Madrid: 1R |
 Ran into some tough foes (Kuznetsova at the French, Venus at Wimbledon) in the Slams after starting both with a string of good results. |
| 10 | Dominika Cibulkova | +N/A | 12 | Bastad: QF Wimbledon: 3R 's-Hertogenbosch: 1R French: SF |
 Another player whose strong Slam showing is propping her up. Cibulkova made the French semis without having to beat anyone ranked higher than No. 28. |
| Outside looking in | The big question | ||||
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Maria Sharapova Last four — Wimbledon 2R; Birmingham SF; French QF; Warsaw QF Needed a better Wimbledon showing to crack the top 10. Jelena Jankovic Last four — Wimbledon 3R; Eastbourne 1R; French 4R; Madrid QF Will the former No. 1 ever challenge at a Slam again? Ana Ivanovic Last four — Wimbledon: 4R; Eastbourne: 1R; French: 4R; Rome: 3R Slam fourth-round runs aren't cutting it for her. |
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