STRASBOURG: Samantha Stosur held her Australian number one ranking on Saturday by beating compatriot Daria Gavrilova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to win the Strasbourg WTA title on Saturday.
Stosur, 33, has held the top ranking for 450 weeks and would have lost it if she fell to Moscow-born Gavrilova.
Stosur won the Strasbourg title for a second time after 2015 to clinch her ninth career crown and third on clay ahead of her French Open campaign which begins Monday against Slovak Kristina Kucova.
The 2011 US Open champion needed 2 hours 45 minutes to get past 23-year-old Gavrilova, her doubles partner at the 2016 Rio Games, who had been bidding for her maiden WTA title.
Gavrilova had been bidding to be the the first new Australian number one since Casey Dellacqua held the top spot in October, 2008.