Azarenka ranked at career-high No. 8

Azarenka used a tough game of deep ground strokes that Williams, slowed by a leg injury, had trouble handling in Saturday's tournament final. Azarenka came away a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. It was her third tournament win of the year and moved her to eighth in the world.

Williams is still ranked No. 1 and Dinara Safina is second. Elena Dementieva moved into third, knocking Jelena Jankovic to fourth. Venus Williams, who lost to her sister Serena in a tight three-set match in the semifinals, went from sixth to fifth in Monday's rankings.

Vera Zvonareva fell from fifth to sixth while Ana Ivanovic retained the No. 7 ranking.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, despite advancing to the Sony semis, slipped from eighth to ninth and Nadia Petrova also dropped one slot and is ranked 10th.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.