The latest victory of Maria Sharapova at the China Open had led her closer to toppling tennis star Serena Williams from her seat.
The win had moved her up to second place in the World Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings. Williams, who withdrew from the tournament, retains her rank as the world's number 1 in women's tennis.
The tennis superstar withdrew from the match reportedly due to her knee injury, much to the dismay of many of her fans.
CRI reported that Williams said, "Well, it throbs just sitting, standing. I felt it mostly serving because I'm landing on my left knee. That was really killer for me."
She continued, "So as a defending champion, you always want to do your best to defend your title. So more than anything, it's extremely frustrating. You know, I wanted to be here. To come all this way and not to take the title, it's just a waste.
Sports World News reported that Williams has accumulated points of 7,146 while Sharapova follows with accumulated points of 6,680. In order for Sharapova to earn the title, she needs to win three tournaments to surpass Williams.
However, it seems that Sharapova has a different perspective on the matter. According to the site, there is something more important to here than winning tournaments to earn a rank.
"I don't think I've ever done that in my career, add a few tournaments to my schedule to gain points, in order to find a certain ranking. Never in the juniors, never in the pros. Most important is to be healthy," the 27-year old revealed.
She continued, "Of course, it's an incredible achievement if I could do it, considering where I started the year. But in the meantime I know I've had a great year and I'm going to go into the last tournament that I have just wanting to elevate my performance, use this week as a great stepping stone in the right direction, and finish it off well."
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