Berlin – Russia's Maria Sharapova moved into second place of the WTA women's tennis rankings Monday, close behind frontrunner Serena Williams of the United States.
Sharapova moved past former number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus after winning the Indian Wells Masters, which Williams did not play.
Williams, who returns to action for the upcoming Miami Masters, has 10,365 points, with Sharapova on 10,015 and Azarenka on 9,575.
WTA top 10 as of March 18 (previous ranking in parenthesis):
1. (1) Serena Williams, United States, 10,365 points
2. (3) Maria Sharapova, Russia, 10,015
3. (2) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 9,575
4. (4) Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 7,395
5. (5) Li Na, China, 5,880
6. (6) Angelique Kerber, Germany, 5,400
7. (8) Sara Errani, Italy, 5,160
8. (7) Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 5,150
9. (10) Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 4,130
10. (9) Samantha Stosur, Australia, 4,005 – Sapa-dpa