Henin extends WTA lead with a record title

Hamburg (dpa) - Justine Henin stretched her lead atop the women's tennis rankings by virtue of a career-record ninth title of the year on Sunday in Zurich.

The Belgian star Henin, whose previous best was eight titles won in 2003, has 5,930 points and is already assured of keeping the top spot until the end of the year.

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia is a distant second on 3,750 points with Serb Jelena Jankovic third on 3,475 points. Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France moves into the top 10 for the first time in her career, rising from 11th to ninth with 2,096 points.

WTA top 120 as of October 22 (previous ranking in parenthesis):

1. (1) Justine Henin, Belgium, 5,930 points

2. (2) Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 3,750

3. (3) Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 3,475

4. (4) Ana Ivanovic, Serbia, 3,175

5. (5) Maria Sharapova, Russia, 2,861

6. (6) Serena Williams, United States, 2,767

7. (7) Anna Chavetadze, Russia, 2,625

8. (8) Venus Williams, United States, 2,470

9. (11) Marion Bartoli, France, 2,096

10. (9) Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, 2,027.