Serena William - The Real No. 1?

Dinara Safina is the top-ranked women's tennis player, but Serena Williams says otherwise.

Despite evidence to the contrary, new No. 1 Dinara Safina is not the best women's player in the world, according to the new No. 2.

"We all know who the real No. 1 is," Serena Williams told a news conference at the Italian Open at Rome on Monday. "Quite frankly, I'm the best in the world."

Asked which opponent she feared the most, Williams stuck to the same theme: "Probably myself. I always beat myself." Williams can point to her record of 10 Grand Slam titles, 10 more than Safina has won.

But Safina wasn't apologizing for her place atop the rankings. She said Williams is "older than me, so she has more experience. So let's see when I'm her age how many titles I have and then we can say.

"It's not luck. Nobody gave it to me. I played two Grand Slam finals and last year I won four titles. This didn't come out of [the] sky."

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Kuznetsova Eases By Safina To Take Title

STUTTGART, Germany -- Svetlana Kuznetsova upset top-ranked Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Porsche Grand Prix and capture her first WTA title since September 2007.

It was Safina's first tournament since becoming No. 1 two weeks ago.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion now ranked No. 9, was in command in the all-Russian showdown with an aggressive, big-hitting game, winning on her third match point with an overhead smash.

She had lost her last six finals and had not made any this year before Stuttgart.

"It's been a while. It's great to be here and win," Kuznetsova said before taking a spin on the court in a white Porsche convertible that she won as first prize. "It was a bit scary but I will definitely keep it. It's special."

Kuznetsova won at Stuttgart in her fifth try.

Safina, the Australian Open runner-up, dropped her serve in the final game of the first set. Kuznetsova set it up with a perfect return down the line and Safina then put a backhand into the net.

She had two chances to break Kuznetsova's serve in the third game of the second, but Kuznetsova held. Kuznetsova never looked back after taking a 4-2 lead.

Safina saved one match point at 5-3 and one more in the next game, but Kuznetsova had too much fire power.

"She played very well and I didn't feel very well today," Safina said. "But I am still No. 1."

The Stuttgart tournament used to be played on a hard surface, but has become the first indoor event on clay on the circuit.

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Safina Makes Sibling History As No. 1

LONDON -- Dinara Safina officially took over the top ranking on the WTA Tour on Monday, making her and older sibling Marat Safin the only brother-sister duo to have been No. 1 in professional tennis.

Safina, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title but twice reached a major final, is the 19th woman to top the rankings since they were introduced in 1975. She is also only the second Russian woman after Maria Sharapova to reach No. 1.

Safina replaced Serena Williams at the top, even though the American beat her in the Australian Open final this year. Last year, Safina lost to Ana Ivanovic in the French Open final.

Marat Safin was ranked No. 1 on the men's tour in 2000, the same year he won the first of two Grand Slam singles titles.

"He has two Grand Slams," Safina said of her brother in a video posted on the WTA's Web site. "He's still much better than me, so I have to catch him."

Safina won four titles last year.

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Safina To Replace Serena As Number One In WTA Rankings

MIAMI, April 8 - Russia's Dinara Safina will replace Serena Williams as world number one in the WTA's next official rankings, the organisation said on Wednesday.

Safina, who has yet to win a Grand Slam event, has risen up the rankings thanks to four WTA singles titles in the past year -- at Montreal, Los Angeles, Berlin and Tokyo.

The full rankings will be officially released on April 20.

The Russian, whose brother Marat was previously a men's number one, was also runner-up in five competitions including the 2009 Australian Open, where she was beaten by Williams, and the 2008 French Open.

"It's a great honour to reach the number one ranking and it is a dream that every girl who has ever wanted to play professional tennis shares," said Dinara in a statement released by the WTA.

"It is even extra special for me since my brother Marat was able to reach number one and I am happy to share this achievement with him."

The rankings system was questioned last week by Williams, who in the past 12 months has won the Australian Open and the U.S Open and was beaten finalist at Wimbledon.

"There's no question that while I am very proud of my results over the past year, I would have liked to reach this achievement in a different manner," said Safina.

"I hope to prove to everyone over the coming months that I merit the honour of being World number one," she said.

An injury-hampered Williams suffered a 6-4 3-6 6-1 defeat to Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic in the first round of the Andalucia Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

Williams is still struggling due to a thigh problem that affected her performance in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Saturday when she lost to teenager Belarussian Victoria Azarenka.

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