Hamburg - Serena Williams reclaimed the lead from Dinara Safina in the women's tennis rankings issued by the WTA on Monday and is also assured of the final 2009 top spot. The American has 9,075 points to the 7,800 for Russia's Safina, with Svetlana Kuznetsova, also of Russia, third on 6,141.
Williams, 28, tops the year-ending rankings for the second time in her career, the first time being 2002.
She was assured of the top spot when Safina pulled out injured in the first match of the season-ending championships in Doha last week, but wrapped up her campaign in style by winning the trophy on Sunday on top of earlier 2009 success at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
"2009 has been a truly memorable season for me during which I enjoyed some of the biggest wins of my career," Williams said.
"Capturing the year-end world number one ranking is a huge accomplishment for me and I am thrilled that all the hard work has paid off."
Last season's number one Jelena Jankovic had to settle for eighth this time around while US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark rose from 12th in 2008 to fourth.
The final rankings are issued next Monday after this week's Tournament of Champions in Bali.
WTA top 10 as of November 2 (previous ranking in parenthesis):
1. (2) Serena Williams, United States, 9,075 points 2. (1) Dinara Safina, Russia, 7,800 3. (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 6,141 4. (4) Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 5,875 5. (5) Elena Dementieva, Russia, 5,585 6. (7) Venus Williams, United States, 5,126 7. (6) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 4820 8. (8) Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 3,965 9. (9) Vera Zvonareva, Russia, 3,560 10. (10) Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 3,450
