LONDON, July 9: Venus Williams moved back into the Top 20 in the rankings for the first time in a year on Monday, rising to No 17 thanks to her fourth Wimbledon singles title.

Runner-up Marion Bartoli moved from No 19 to a career-high No 11, while Amelie Mauresmo, whose title defence ended in the fourth round, dropped from No 4 to No 6.

Williams entered the tournament at No 31 and became the lowest-ranked women's champion at the All England Club. In 2006, she was upset in the third round at Wimbledon and fell from No 12 to No 23.

Williams also won Wimbledon in 2000, 2001 and 2005; she was ranked No 1 in 2002.

Justine Henin stayed at No 1 despite losing to Bartoli in the semi-final, and was followed by No 2 Maria Sharapova and No 3 Jelena Jankovic.

No 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova and No 5 Ana Ivanovic, who both lost to Williams, each moved up one spot. Williams' younger sister Serena went from No 8 to No 7.

There was less significant movement near the top of the men's rankings, in part because No 1 Roger Federer beat No 2 Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final for the second consecutive year.

Semi-finalist Novak Djokovic did rise one place to a career-best No 3, swapping with Andy Roddick. The man who beat Roddick in the quarter-final, Richard Gasquet, jumped from No 14 to No 7, his first appearance in the Top 10.

World rankings (previous ranking in brackets):

MEN’S: 1. (1) Roger Federer (Switzerland) 7290 points; 2. (2) Rafael Nadal (Spain) 5225; 3. (5) Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 3310; 4. (3) Andy Roddick (US) 3230; 5. (4) Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 3185; 6. (6) Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 2780; 7. (14) Richard Gasquet (France) 2220; 8. (7) Tommy Robredo (Spain) 2200; 9. (9) James Blake (US) 2075; 10. (11) Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 2045; 11. (10) Tommy Haas (Germany) 2035; 12. (12) Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 1940; 13. (8) Andy Murray (Britain) 1935; 14. (13) Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 1875; 15. (15) David Ferrer (Spain) 1610; 16. (17) Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 1607; 17. (18) Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 1505; 18. (16) Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 1370; 19. (20) Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 1335; 20. (22) Carlos Moya (Spain) 1260.

WOMEN’S: 1. (1) Justine Henin (Belgium) 4457 points; 2. (2) Maria Sharapova (Russia) 3678; 3. (3) Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 3241; 4. (5) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 2978; 5. (6) Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 2898; 6. (4) Amelie Mauresmo (France) 2424; 7. (8) Serena Williams (US) 2380; 8. (7) Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) 2221; 9. (9) Nadia Petrova (Russia) 2002; 10. (10) Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) 1973; 11. (19) Marion Bartoli (France) 1875; 12. (12) Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 1857; 13. (11) Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 1845; 14. (14) Dinara Safina (Russia) 1742; 15. (13) Elena Dementieva (Russia) 1699; 16. (15) Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 1671; 17. (31) Venus Williams (US) 1655; 18. (16) Shahar Peer (Israel) 1529; 19. (17) Tatiana Golovin (France) 1410; 20. (18) Li Na (China) 1159.—Agencies