TRACKING>>Serena Williams has returned to the top 10 in the tennis rankings for the first time since taking a break to have her first child in September 2017.
Williams dropped as low as 491st upon her return to competition in March 2018 but is up to No. 10 after reaching two Grand Slam finals since, losing to Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon and Naomi Osaka at the US Open.
The 23-time major champion won the Australian Open in January 2017 while still in the early stages of her pregnancy before giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia in September of that year.
Williams returned at Indian Wells in March 2018, having dropped as low as 491 in the standings, but Monday’s update saw the 37-year-old ascend back to number 10 in the world.
Wlliams hasn’t played since her quarterfinal loss to Karolina Pliskova at last month’s Australian Open, but she still overtook Caroline Wozniacki. The Danish player’s points from reaching last year’s Doha semifinals expired this week.
Osaka remains at the top of the rankings. Simona Halep is second and Sloane Stephens is third, while Petra Kvitova dropped to fourth.
