London - Serena Williams mocked Dinara Safina's status as world number one on Saturday after wrapping up her third Wimbledon title, and 11th Grand Slam crown.
Williams defeated sister Venus 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 and now holds three of the four majors.
But despite her success, the 27-year-old American hit out at the current system which will still see Safina as the world number one tomorrow even though the Russian has yet to win a major.
Safina's position came under renewed fire when she was humiliated in the semi-finals here when she lost 6-1, 6-0 to Venus.
| 'You can't get anywhere by not doing the best and not working your hardest' |
"I think if you hold three Grand Slam titles maybe you should be number 1, but not on the WTA Tour obviously," said Williams.
"My motivation is maybe just to win another Grand Slam and stay number 2, I guess. It's shocking. I'd rather definitely be number 2 and hold three Grand Slams in the past year than be number 1 and not have any."
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Williams then mocked Safina's ascent to the top of the world rankings. "I see myself as number 2. That's where I am. I think Dinara did a great job to get to number 1. She won in Rome and in Madrid," she said before making a desperate attempt to limit the damage from her remarks.
"If I'd have done better at the French Open, like got to the semi-finals, maybe things would have been different. But, honestly I'm not picking on anybody. Everyone works hard. I think the girl, Dinara, who is number 1, you can clearly see by her physique how hard she works.
"You can't get anywhere by not doing the best and not working your hardest.
"So, I'm happy for her but I'm really excited that I won Wimbledon. I don't know what to do to be number 1. I don't even care anymore. I'm just happy to be here."
Venus, who had been hoping for a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles and sixth in total, admitted she may have got her tactics wrong in the final. "I would have liked to move forward. A lot of times when I had the short balls, they were low. It is hard to come in on those and actually hit an effective shot and come in," said Venus.
"Towards the end I was too far behind the baseline. I did realise that, but at that point I guess it was a little deep into the match."
Venus had her chances in the first set but couldn't convert two break points she had carved out in the eighth game before her younger sister proved the more dynamic in the tie-break.
Serena then went on to break to lead 4-2 in the second set when Venus double-faulted. "She played great, especially in the tiebreak. I don't think I did too many things wrong in the tiebreak," said Venus. - Sapa-AFP
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