S. Williams up to ninth in women's tennis

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., April 9 (UPI) -- Serena Williams posted a dominant close in winning the Family Circle Cup in South Carolina and moves up in the women's tennis Top 10.

Williams earned her 40th WTA title Sunday by winning the first nine games en route to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Lucie Safarova. That came a day after she blew past second-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals. Both matches lasted less than an hour.

Considering Williams missed so many tournaments because of a series of injuries, she isn't defending many points in the rankings. That suggests her move from 10th to No. 9 this week could be the start of a run up the rankings.

Her switch with Vera Zvonareva, who is now 10th, is the only change in the Top 10 this week.

Victoria Azarenka is No. 1 for a 12th consecutive week. She has 8,980 points. Maria Sharapova is second at 7,930 and Petra Kvitova sits in third with 7,095. Agnieszka Radwanska is fourth with 6,710 and Stosur, who has 5,825 points, remains No. 5.

Caroline Wozniacki is sixth with 5,450 followed by Marion Bartoli (5,020), Li Na (4,880), Williams (4,300) and Zvonareva (3,895).

Wozniacki is the only Top 10 player in the field in the WTA's tournaments this week. She is a two-time defending champion of the e-Boks Open, which is played in her native Denmark.