Sania jumps 13 places in WTA singles rankings

New Delhi, Jan 8: Sania Mirza reaped benefits from her fine showat Hobart International tournament last week to jump 13 places to 53rdin WTA singles rankings released today.

Sania, who plays unheralded Ukranian Olga Savchukin in the firstround of the Australian Open, had reached the semi-finals at Hobartlast week and the Indian has 431 rating points to her credit now,according to the information received here.

Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, who skipped Australian Openreportedly due to marital problems, still tops the list, followed byOpen top seed Maria Sharapova of Russia and defending champion andthird seed Amelie Mauresmo of France.

In the doubles rankings, Sania slipped one place to 25th despite aquater-final finish at the Hobart event, pairing with Australian AliciaMolik.

Among other Indian women, Shikha Uberoi (208) retained her prviousweek's singles ranking while while Ankita Bhambri (413), Isha Lakhani(421) and Rushmi Chakravarthi (422) moved up one place each.

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