Safina moves to third in tennis ratings

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Dinara Safina, who last weekend won her fourth tournament of the year, moved to third Monday in the latest women's world tennis ratings.

Safina reached the finals of the French Open, was a semifinalist at the U.S. Open and is 52-15 in a year that has seen her steadily move up the rankings. She ended last year rated 15th. Her current No. 3 ranking represents a career high.

"I've played the best tennis this week I've ever played," Safina said Sunday after winning the Pan Pacific Open. "It's always nice to move up in the rankings and hopefully I can keep improving."

She won the title with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Svetlana Kuznetsova and moved up two spots on the rankings list.

Serena Williams remained No. 1 with Jelena Jankovic second. With Safina's move up, the Top Five saw some shakeup as Ana Ivanovic slipped from third to fourth and Elena Dementieva went from fourth to fifth.

The second half of the Top 10 remained the same with Maria Sharapova sixth followed by, in order, Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska.