BEIJING — Serena Williams is headed back to the top.
Williams needed only to win her second-round match at the China Open on Tuesday to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, because the current top-ranked player, Dinara Safina, couldn’t get past that early round at the tournament.
Coming in, Williams had to fare better than Safina in Beijing to move to the top of the rankings next week. Safina lost to local wild card entry Zhang Shuai in the second round Monday.
Williams then needed just over one hour for a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.
“It feels pretty good. I’m really excited, I guess,” Williams said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, but I’m obviously happy to be there because I feel like I’ve been working so hard all year and just happy to be back.”
Safina’s loss made No. 226 Zhang the lowest-ranked woman to defeat a No. 1.
Julie Coin of France was ranked 188th when she beat then-No. 1 Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 U.S. Open.
“I would like to take some break now. … I’m very upset with myself,” Safina said.
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