Sania rises four spots to 41

New Delhi, Mar 20: Reaching the third round of Pacific Life Open, her best show this year, pushed Sania Mirza four places up the WTA singles ladder at 41 while Amelie Mauresmo replaced Kim Clijsters at the top of the table.

Sania has had a poor year so far, making a first round exit in Sydney International, followed by her second round defeat against Michaella Krajicek in the Australian Open.

In Paris last month, she could not advance beyond the second round in an indoor tournament and the same fate awaited her in Bangalore while comeback queen Martina Hingis showed her the door in the first round of the Dubai Open.

In Pacific Life Open, Sania finally managed to go beyond the second round but eventual runner-up Elena Dementieva cut short her campaign beating her in the third round.

Sania now has 516.75 ranking points.

Among her compatriots, US-based Shikha Uberoi (156.50) slipped 29 rungs to 178, followed way behind by Ankita Bhambri (360th) and Rushmi Chakravarthi (381st).

In the top 10, Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo (3511) snapped Kim Clijsters’ (3290) reign at the top and swapped her place with the Belgian.

Maria Sharapova (2753) exchanged her fifth place with Lindsay Davenport (2524) to move up to the fourth spot while Swiss star Hingis, climbed six notches to 26 with 729 ranking points against her name.

Bureau Report