Dinara is the No.1 in the world with the release of the new Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings for Monday, April 20. She replaces Serena Williams, who held the spot for 11 straight weeks (72 total). She is the second Russian to assume the top spot, after Maria Sharapova (who held it for 17 weeks). She is also part of the first ever brother-sister world No.1 pair, her brother Marat Safin having been ranked No.1 on the ATP World Tour previously.

Dinara is the 19th No.1 ever, after Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

“It’s a great honor to reach the No.1 ranking and it is a dream every girl who has ever wanted to play professional tennis shares,” the 22-year-old said. “It is even extra special for me since my brother Marat was able to reach the No.1 ranking and I am happy to share this achievement with him. 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. I hope to prove to everyone over the coming months that I merit the honor of being world No.1.”

“On the heels of her breakthrough 2008 season, it’s great to see Dinara’s hard work, determination and strong results will be rewarded with the No.1 ranking,” said Tour Chairman & CEO, Larry Scott. “Reaching No.1 is an amazing accomplishment for Dinara and I am sure that we’ll continue to witness many more great achievements by her.”

Aldo Liguori, Sony Ericsson Corporate VP and Head of Global Communications & PR, said: “We congratulate Dinara on soon becoming the new Sony Ericsson WTA Tour No.1 and look forward to following and celebrating her future successes.”

Dinara has won four Tour titles over the last 12 months: the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin (last May), the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles and the Rogers Cup in Montréal (last summer) and the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo (last fall). She has also finished runner-up five times, twice on the Grand Slam stage: Roland Garros last year (falling to Ana Ivanovic in the final) and the Australian Open this year (falling to Serena Williams). Last year she also became the first player ever to beat three different reigning world No.1s in the same season (Henin, Sharapova, Jankovic). The Russian’s ranking vaulted from No.17 to No.2 last year, bringing her the Tour’s Most Improved Player Award for 2008.

I was thrilled to find out about becoming the new No.1 in the world.
 
It was something I’ve aimed to achieve ever since I began competing as an athlete, and I can’t believe I finally achieved it all these years later. It’s especially nice to know that Marat and I are the only brother-sister combo to achieve this feat.  

I want to thank my coach and family for all their support to help me reach this goal. It would not have been possible without them. However, I have many more goals ahead of me, including hopefully winning my first Grand Slam and many more tournaments.
 
I also want to thank all my fans. They make this accomplishment all the more enjoyable.