SERENA IS NUMBER ONE AGAIN.

Serena Williams Photo: WTA

DOHA (THEWILL) – Serena Williams has zoomed to the top spot in WTA ranking after defeating Russia’s Elena Dimentieva 6-2, 6-4 Thursday in a crucial match of the WTA Sony Ericsson Championships.

Former world number one and new number two Dinara Safina pulled out of the tournament after suffering a back injury. Ms. Williams has thus secured her year-end ambition to become world's number one. With the victory against Dimentieva, Serena secured her a place in the semi-finals of the tournament which has a cash prize of morethan $1.m dollars.

The other Williams, Venus conquered hard fighting French Champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 in a game late Thursday. Venus lost her last two games at the tournament. She can still reach the semi-finals however her chances depends on what happens between Dementieva and Kuznetsova in friday's game.

The Doha Championship is the last WTA Tour event for the eight top-ranked female tennis stars.