Serena extends rankings lead

Berlin - Serena Williams of the United States extended her lead at the top of the women's tennis rankings after beating number three Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Rome Masters on the weekend.

Williams now has a 1 605-point lead over Maria Sharapova, who pulled out of the Masters ahead of her quarter-final clash against local hero Sara Errani.

WTA top 10 as of May 20 (previous ranking in parenthesis):

1. (1) Serena Williams, United States, 11 620 points
2. (2) Maria Sharapova, Russia, 10 015
3. (3) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 9 005
4. (4) Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 6 475
5. (6) Sara Errani, Italy, 5 835
6. (5) Li Na, China, 5 7335
7. (8) Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 5 175
8. (7) Angelique Kerber, Germany, 5 135
9. (10) Samantha Stosur, Australia, 3 645
10. (9) Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 3 625

Other:

61. (57) Chanelle Scheepers, South Africa, 1 000.