Vesnina, Halep rise in WTA rankings

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., June 24 (UPI) -- Elena Vesnina and Simona Halep both won their second WTA titles and moved up in the women's world tennis rankings -- Vesnina to No. 22 and Halep to No. 32.

Vesnina claimed the Aegon International with a win over Jamie Hampton not long after Halep wrapped up her second tournament championship in as many weeks with a victory over Kirsten Flipkens at the Topshelf Open in the Netherlands.

Vesnina had been 0-6 in finals before winning in Hobart, Australia, in January. Getting the win at the Aegon lifts her to 22nd in the rankings, which matches her career high. She was 36th a week ago.

Halep had been in one final each year from 2010-12 but had lost them all. Then, over the last two weeks, she pulled a clay-grass double, taking the WTA stop in Nuremburg, Germany, on June 15 on a slow clay court and on Saturday winning on the quicker grass courts of the Netherlands. That boosts her from 45th to 32nd, also a career high.

The Top 10 is unchanged going into the 127th Wimbledon Championships. Tournament officials followed the WTA rankings in determining the seeds for the event, which began Monday.

The WTA Top 10, with home country and rankings points:

1. Serena Williams, United States, 13,615

2. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 9,625

3. Maria Sharapova, Russia, 9,415

4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 6,465

5. Sara Errani, Italy, 5,335

6. Li Na, China, 5,155

7. Angelique Kerber, Germany, 4,770

8. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 4,435

9. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 3,565

10. Maria Kirilenko, Russia, 3,471