Sharapova has moved into the top 10 for the first time

London: 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. The Russian never had been past the quarter finals at a major.

Serena dropped to No. 14, her lowest spot since March 1999. She was No. 1 as recently as August 4, 2003, three days after she had knee surgery. That was the last of her 57 straight weeks at the top thanks to winning five out of six Grand Slam titles.

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.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Amelie Mauresmo rose one spot to No. 4, switching places with French Open champion Anastasia Myskina. Lindsay Davenport stayed at No. 5, followed by Elena Dementieva, Jennifer Capriati, Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ai Sugiyama.

Karolina Sprem, who upset Venus Williams and made it to her first major quarter final, jumped 10 places to No. 20.

Federer added to his advantage over No. 2 Andy Roddick in the ATP entry rankings, based on the past 52 weeks and used to determine seedings at tournaments. Federer beat Roddick 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 on Sunday in the first Wimbledon final between the two top-seeded men since 1982.

French open runner-up 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 2003 French Open champion 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, followed by Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi.

In the ATP champions race, calculated with results at top tournaments this season, Federer has 746 points to Coria’s 479. Roddick, sixth in the champions race after the French Open, moved up to No. 3, with 454 points.

RANKINGS

(Previous positions in brackets)

WTA top 10 — 1. (1) Justine Henin-Hardenne (Bel, 5,307 pts); 2. (2) Kim Clijsters (Bel, 4,421); 3. (4) Amelie Mauresmo (Fra, 4,031); 4. (3) Anastasia Myskina (Rus, 3,720); 5. (5) Lindsay Davenport (US, 3,297); 6. (6) Elena Dementieva (Rus, 2,884); 7. (7) Jennifer Capriati (US, 2,758); 8. (15) Maria Sharapova (Rus, 2,386); 9. (9) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus, 2,113); 10. (12) Ai Sugiyama (Jpn, 1,925).

ATP ENTRY SYSTEM top 10 — 1. (1) Roger Federer (Sui, 5,610 pts); 2. (2) Andy Roddick (US, 4,945); 3. (3) Guillermo Coria (Arg, 3,770); 4. (7) Carlos Moya (Esp, 2,610); 5. (6) Tim Henman (GBR, 2,505); 6. (4) David Nalbandian (Arg, 2,475); 7. (5) Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp, 2,435); 8. (8) Rainer Schuettler (Ger, 2,190); 9. (10) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus, 1,990); 10. (9) Andre Agassi (US, 1,905).

ATP CHAMPIONS RACE top 10 — 1. (1) Roger Federer (Sui, 746 pts); 2. (2) Guillermo Coria (Arg, 479); 3. (4) Andy Roddick (US, 454); 4. (3) Carlos Moya (Esp, 414); 5. (7) Tim Henman (GBR, 319); 6. (8) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus, 316); 7. (5) Gaston Gaudio (Arg, 285); 8. (6) Marat Safin (Rus, 283); 9. (9) David Nalbandian (Arg, 252); 10. (17) Sebastien Grosjean (Fra, 235).

(AP)