5erena Williams

No player had gone so long between stints at No1 in women's tennis. All those pin-up girls can forget about winning any major for the time being, as long as the Williams stay interest in tennis.

More than five years after she last held the top ranking, Serena Williams officially regained the distinction on Monday hours after winning the US Open for the third time.

It had been even longer since her last Open championship - six years. And though it was her ninth Grand Slam title, it was just her second since capturing the Australian Open in early 2005.

Williams thrashed No 2 Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 in the final and didn't drop a set the entire tournament. She believes many doubted that she'd ever climb back on top of the tennis world as her ranking plummeted all the way to No139.

Oh, yeah my favourite tennis player is back. I always felt that she could be No1 if she really put in the effort. Nobody come close, I mean absolutely nobody!

Serena replaced Ana Ivanovic atop the rankings. Ivanovic dropped to No 3 after losing in the second round, while Jankovic remained at No2.

It's been almost a decade since Serena won her first Grand Slam title at the US Open in 1999. Her goals at the time, she recalled, were to win the other three majors and to ascend to No1.

She accomplished all of them, but there was no doubt as she hopped up and down in celebration on Sunday that she still finds joy in achieving even more.