MELBOURNE, Australia – Reigning US Open champion and current world No.2 Kim Clijsters will take over the No.1 ranking on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour when the official Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings are released on Monday, January 30.

Clijsters ascends to the No.1 ranking for the third time in her career, capping a phenomenal comeback in which she becomes the first player ever, male or female, to rise from outside the Top 100 to become No.1 within a 12- month period. She previously held the No.1 ranking for 12 non-consecutive weeks spanning August 11 – November 9, 2003.

By advancing to the semifinals of the Australian Open with an impressive performance over former Sony Ericsson WTA Tour No.1 Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals, Clijsters takes over the No.1 ranking from Lindsay Davenport, who has held the top spot for the past 15 weeks consecutively and 98 weeks lifetime. "After the year I had last year, this is just the cherry on the cake," Clijsters said. "Obviously it's a great feeling to get back to No.1; it's always nice to get there."

“What Kim has accomplished over the past year to become No.1 again is truly remarkable,” said Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Chairman and CEO Larry Scott. “With the incredible depth in today’s game, reaching the top of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings is an incredible feat.” Clijsters has recorded a remarkable 12 months since returning full-time to the Tour in February 2005 after undergoing wrist surgery in June 2004. Clijsters was ranked No.134 as recently as last March, returning to win a Tour-leading nine Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles in 2005, which included capturing her first Grand Slam title at the US Open. She also won back-to-back Tier I titles one month into her comeback, beginning with the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells (ranked No.133, she became the lowest-ranked Tier I winner in Tour history) followed by a title win at the NASDAQ-100 in Miami (joining Steffi Graf to achieve the only Indian Wells - Miami sweep since 1989).

Clijsters is one of 15 players to reach the pinnacle of women’s professional tennis since the computer rankings were created in 1975. The others are Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Graf, Monica Seles, Davenport, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Jennifer Capriati, Hingis, Arantxa Sánchez- Vicario, Amélie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova.

Following is a list of all 15 players who have held the No.1 ranking in women’s professional tennis. The chart lists the first date the player ascended to the No.1 ranking, followed by her age on that monumental day and her total number of weeks at No.1 (listed in chronological order in terms of first ascent to No.1):

Chris Evert (USA) November 3, 1975 20 10 13 262

Martina Navratilova (TCH/USA) July 10, 1978 21 8 22 331

Tracy Austin (USA) April 7, 1980 17 3 26 22

Steffi Graf (GER) August 17, 1987 18 2 3 377

Monica Seles (YUG/USA) March 11, 1991 17 3 9 178

Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario (ESP) February 6, 1995 23 1 19 12

Martina Hingis (SUI) March 31, 1997 16 6 1 209

Lindsay Davenport (USA) October 12, 1998 22 4 4 98

Jennifer Capriati (USA) October 15, 2001 25 6 16 17

Venus Williams (USA) February 25, 2002 21 8 8 11

Serena Williams (USA) July 8, 2002 20 9 12 57

Kim Clijsters (BEL) August 11, 2003 20 2 3 12

Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) October 20, 2003 21 4 19 45

Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) September 13, 2004 25 2 8 5

Maria Sharapova (RUS) August 22, 2005 18 4 3 7

* Total weeks at No.1; can be non-consecutive | ** Current No.1 as of January 23, 2006