Sania jumps to third spot in doubles rankings

St. Petersburg, March 23: Fresh from her BNP Paribas Open title win pairing with Swiss star Marti Hingis, India’s Sania Mirza jumped to her career-best third spot in the doubles event, according to the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings released on Monday.

Sania now has 6,885 points, behind top-ranked Italians Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani, who share the numero uno position with 7,640 points each.

Sania’s win at the Indian Wells tennis tourment helped her earn 1,000 points and rise by two places on the list.

Sania expressed her delight at her elevation in the rankings and thanked her fans for standing behind her.

“Officially Number 3 in the world today. my persol best ... Thanks for ur love and support always love you guys back,” she wrote on her social networking site facebook page on Monday.

Sania, three-time Grand Slam champion, will next play in the Miami Open starting on Monday.

Sania’s doubles partner at Indian Wells, Hingis saluted their partnership.

“What a premiere with Sania Mirza!!!! Ending up with the trophy thanks for all of your support these past few weeks!,” Hingis wrote on her facebook page on Monday.

In women’s singles, India’s Ankita Rai moved up two spots to clinch the 253rd spot, maintaining her status as the country’s top singles player.

In the men’s rankings, India’s No.1 singles player Somdev Devvarman maintained his 176th rank, while Ramkumar Ramathan gained 10 places to move to 247.

He was followed by Yuki Bhambri who moved up 27 spots to be at the 257th position.

In the men’s doubles, Leander Paes slipped four places to the 25th spot. He was followed by Rohan Bopan, who slipped by a position to 26. IANS