Serena supreme in all but world ranking

By Pritha Sarkar

LONDON (Reuters) - How can an athlete own three of the four major titles in their sport yet still not be rated the world's best? That was the question puzzling not only Wimbledon champion Serena Williams Saturday but everyone in tennis.

The American was all smiles on court after beating elder sister Venus 7-6 6-2 to win her third Wimbledon crown and she doubled up in laughter when asked to explain why Dinara Safina, yet to win a grand slam title, held the number one ranking.

"I think Dinara did a great job to get to number one -- she won (non grand slam titles in) Rome and Madrid," Serena said to hoots of laughter.

"I think if you hold three grand slam titles maybe you should be number one but not on the WTA Tour obviously, so... You know, my motivation is maybe just to win another grand slam and stay number two, I guess," she grinned.

Serena has every right to feel baffled after she added the Wimbledon crown to the U.S. and Australian Open titles she has won in the past 10 months.

Safina on the other hand has been rewarded by a system that appears to value consistency rather than the quality of tournaments won.

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It has led many people to criticise the way the rankings are calculated and when Serena was usurped by Safina this year, the American claimed she was still the "real number one" no matter what the rankings said.