Berlin – Serena Williams maintained her substantial lead at the top of the women's tennis rankings issued by the WTA. The American has 13,260 points with nearest challenger Victoria Azarenka in second place with 8,151. Williams faces Ash Barty in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday. Victory in Melbourne would bring her an 18th grand slam title, the same as greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. The only changes to the rankings took place outside the top 10.
WTA top 10 as of January 13 (previous ranking in parenthesis):
1. (1) Serena Williams, United States, 13,260 points
2. (2) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 8,151
3. (3) Maria Scharapowa, Russia, 6,076
4. (4) Li Na, China, 5,970
5. (5) Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 5,470
6. (6) Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 4,835
7. (7) Sara Errani, Italy, 4,435
8. (8) Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 4,230
9. (9) Angelique Kerber, Germany, 4,070
10. (10) Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 3,520 – Sapa-dpa