Maria Sharapova zooms to No 8

Associated Press

Wimbledon, July 5:

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova moved into the top 10 of the WTA Tour rankings for the first time at No 8 on Monday, while two-time winner Roger Federer extended his lead atop the men’s standings. Sharapova was a career-best No 15 before the start of the tournament, which she won by beating Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday. Williams dropped to No 14, her lowest spot since March 1999. Her sister Venus fell to No 15 after losing in the second round at Wimbledon. Despite skipping the grass-court Grand Slam tournament with health problems, Justine Henin-Hardenne remained at No 1, and Kim Clijsters at No 2. Amelie Mauresmo rose one spot to No 4, switching places with Anastasia Myskina. Lindsay Davenport stayed at No 5, followed by Elena Dementieva, Jennifer Capriati, Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ai Sugiyama. Guillermo Coria stayed at No 3, followed by Carlos Moya and Tim Henman. David Nalbandian, who skipped Wimbledon with an injury, fell from fourth to sixth, while Juan Carlos Ferrero — who briefly was No 1 last year — slid two spots to seventh after losing in Wimbledon’s third round. Rainer Schuettler is No 8, Lleyton Hewitt is No 9, and Andre Agassi is No 10.