Kerber, Halep move up WTA Top 10

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Petra Kvitova slips three places in the WTA Top 10, allowing Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep to make rankings gains.

Kvitova beat Sara Errani in last year's final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships but both went out in the second round this time around. Venus Williams topped Alize Cornet for the 2014 title.

Kvitova sees a net loss of 345 rankings points, enough to drop her from sixth to No. 9. Jelena Jankovic, dropping 155 points after losing in the quarterfinals at Dubai, goes from seventh to eighth.

Kerber and Halep are both up two spots, with Kerber reaching sixth, one shy of her career best, and Halep at a career-high No. 7.

The top of the rankings remains static with Serena Williams, despite a semifinal loss to Cornet in Dubai, No. 1 for a 54th consecutive week. She's been atop the rankings for a total of 177 weeks and next Monday will tie Monica Seles for fifth-most all-time weeks at No. 1. Steffi Graf, with 377, is the all-time record holder.

Venus Williams picked up WTA title No. 45 at Dubai. That is seventh most all-time (eight behind Monica Seles for sixth; Martina Navratilova won 167 tournaments to lead that chart). Williams is up 15 places to 29th in the rankings. Cornet goes from 26th to No. 23.

Kurumi Nara won the Rio Open in her first WTA finals appearance, beating Klara Zakopalova. Nara's ranking, 48th, is a career high. She was 62nd a week ago. Zakopalova improves from 35th to No. 32.

None of the Top 10-ranked players are competing in events this week.

Carla Suarez Navarro leads the field at the Brazil Tennis Cup where fifth-seed Monica Niculescu is the defending champion.

Dominika Cibulkova is seeded first for the Abierto Mexicano Telcel event. Errani beat Suarez Navarro for the 2013 title of the tournament.

The WTA Top 10, listing player's name, home country and rankings points:

1. Serena Williams, United States, 12,660

2. Li Na, China, 6,795

3. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 5,705

4. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 5,681

5. Maria Sharapova, Russia, 5,206

6. Angelique Kerber, Germany, 4,490

7. Simona Halep, Romania, 4,435

8. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 4,380

9. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 4,365

10. Sara Errani, Italy, 4,195

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