Australian Open
champion Amelie Mauresmo will start this week's
Nasdaq-100 Open in the United States as the top-ranked
female tennis player in the world--again.
Mauresmo replaced Kim Clijsters atop the WTA Tour
rankings on Monday, regaining the number 1 position she held
for five weeks in September-October 2004 and
again making her one of the most prominent lesbian
athletes ever to have taken the top spot in her sport.
Mauresmo and
Clijsters missed last week's Pacific Life Open in Indian
Wells, Calif., which was won by Maria Sharapova. Clijsters
won the Indian Wells title last year, but the Belgian
has been out with an injury and fell to number 2
in the rankings after losing her points from that win.
Justine
Henin-Hardenne was third in the rankings, followed by
Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport. Mary Pierce, Nadia
Petrova, Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder, and Venus
Williams round out the top 10. All are entered in the
Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., starting on
Wednesday. Clijsters is the defending champion.
Mauresmo, the
first and only French player to be number 1, leads the WTA
Tour this year with three titles, including her first Grand
Slam. She has 3,511 points, and Clijsters 3,290. In
the previous rankings on March 6, Mauresmo trailed by
only 28 points. (AP)
