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| Monday, February 18 Updated: February 19, 2:23 PM ET Williams to gain No. 1 ranking for first time ESPN.com news services |
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- American Venus Williams will become the fourth player in the last four months to take over the No. 1 spot when the WTA singles rankings are released next Monday. Williams has won three of the four tournaments she has played -- Gold Coast, Paris and Antwerp -- moving her within 137 points of No. 1 player Jennifer Capriati in this week's rankings. The reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, Williams will become the new No. 1 regardless of her finish in the Dubai Women's Open this week. Capriati is not defending her title in Oklahoma City this week, allowing Williams to move ahead by at least five points in the rankings. "I'm very excited about this achievement and look forward to building on it," said Williams, the first African-American No. 1. "Being No. 1 was firstly my parents' dream, but it soon became mine too, so reaching it was great not only for me, but for them too." Williams follows Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Capriati as No. 1 players over the last four months. "I don't want to stick around at No. 2 or go back to No. 5," Williams told the Dubai Open's Web site. "I always like moving forward." Supremely talented and enigmatic in equal measure, Williams' rise to the top has been interrupted by her decision to take long periods off the WTA Tour. It has meant the student of fashion design -- twice the Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion -- has never played enough events to capture the No. 1 ranking. It is unusual for a player who wins two Grand Slams in a year to end it anywhere other than No. 1, but convention has never sat easily on Williams' shoulders. However, she is finally beginning to play a full schedule and the honour of reaching top spot could hardly be more perfectly timed. She is only the 10th player to hold the No. 1 spot since the women's rankings began in November 1975. The others are Steffi Graf (378 weeks), Martina Navratilova (331), Chris Evert (262), Hingis (209), Monica Seles (178), Lindsay Davenport (37), Tracy Austin (22), Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (11) and Capriati (nine). Information from The Associated Press, SportsTicker and Reuters was used in this report. |
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