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A look back at sports

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes (L) keeps both feet in the end zone as he beats Arizona Cardinals safety Aaron Francisco to catch the game winning touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, February 1, 2009. Credit: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Sports pictures of the year

From a nail-biting pass at Superbowl XLIII to a bloody WBO World Welterwight fight, here's a look at the best sports photos of 2009.   Slideshow 

Sharapova to take over top ranking from retired Henin

LONDON
Thu May 15, 2008 1:48pm EDT
File photo shows Maria Sharapova at the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, March 21, 2008. Sharapova will take over as world number one next week after Justine Henin asked to be removed from the rankings following her retirement, the governing body of women's tennis (WTA) said on Thursday. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

LONDON (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova will take over as world number one next week after Justine Henin asked to be removed from the rankings following her retirement, the governing body of women's tennis (WTA) said on Thursday.

Sports

Henin stunned the sporting world when she announced her retirement with immediate effect on Wednesday, becoming the first woman to quit tennis while ranked number one.

The Belgian holds a commanding 1,709-point lead over Australian Open champion Sharapova in this week's rankings.

Despite retiring, the 25-year-old would have held on to the top spot for several more weeks had she not wanted her name omitted from the list.

The WTA said Henin was currently in her 117th non-consecutive week in the top spot.

(Writing by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Alan Baldwin)
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