With Victoria Azarenka pulling out of Dubai with a foot injury, Serena Williams will remain No. 1 through the Miami tournament, the WTA confirmed. Azarenka could have returned to the top spot if she reached the final and Williams lost early.
Azarenka will receive a zero in her ranking calculation, as Dubai is a WTA Premier 700 tournament that she committed to; if a player withdraws from such an event, she has no chance to make up the points elsewhere. The world No. 2 also has zeroes in her ranking (which counts up to 18 tournaments) from Rome and Canada.
Williams has zeroes in her ranking from skipping Indian Wells and Beijing, while No. 3 Maria Sharapova has zeroes from missing Canada and Cincinnati.
Miami begins the week of March 18. Both Williams and Azarenka lost in the quarterfinals there last year, while Sharapova lost to Agnieszka Radwanska in the final.