Sharapova slips to fourth in ranking

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Maria Sharapova dropped another notch in the women's world tennis rankings, coming in at No. 4 Monday about 12 weeks after she inherited the No. 1 spot.

Sharapova became the top-ranked women's player in the world after Justine Henin's sudden retirement May 14. But Ana Ivanovic's play in the French Open and Sharapova's own showing in the Grand Slam event knocked Sharapova to No. 2. She subsequently fell to No. 3 and on Monday was installed at fourth.

Last week Sharapova, already out of the Olympics, withdrew from the U.S. Open because of torn shoulder tendons. The lack of play could erode her ranking further.

Ivanovic is still ranked No. 1 with Jelena Jankovic second and Svetlana Kuznetsova swapped places with Sharapova to be ranked third.

After Sharapova are fifth-rated Serena Williams and No. 6 Elena Dementieva. Dinara Safina went up one place to seventh, pushing Venus Williams to eighth. Agnieszka Radwanska improved one place to ninth, trading spots with Anna Chakveradze.