Maria jumps to No. 1 in World Rankings

Maria Sharapova took over the WTA Tour's No. 1 ranking Monday from Lindsay Davenport, who held the top spot since October.

Maria became the first Russian to ascend to top spot and is just the 15th No. 1 in the 20-year history of the WTA Tour rankings. "I know there is a lot of responsibility that comes along with being No. 1," Maria said. "And I want to represent women's tennis with the same class and style as the other great players, like Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Lindsay and the others."

Maria has not played since Aug. 11 at Los Angeles where she won her third-round match to reach the quarter-finals, but had to withdraw with a strained chest muscle. The same injury forced her to pull out of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and she was not playing on the tour this week. Maria Sharapova won at Wimbledon in 2004 and has nine other titles, including three this year in Tokyo, Doha and Birmingham, England. Her season record is 43-7.

Maria Sharapova started the year at No. 4 has won six titles in the last 12 months in addition to her 2004 Wimbledon crown and season-ending title at the Tour Championships. She has reached at least the semifinals in eight of her last 11 WTA Tour events. Her record is 43-7. Maria is one of four Russians in the top 10. France's Amelie Mauresmo, a semifinalist loser in Toronto, remained No. 3 and Belgium's Kim Clijsters jumped four spots to No. 4 after winning the Rogers Cup. Svetlana Kuznetsova is No. 5, followed by Elena Dementieva, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Serena Williams, Nadia Petrova and Venus Williams.