EXCLUSIVE! Maria Sharapova continued her climb up Eurosport's 2008 claycourt rankings after a quarter-final showing in Charleston and some stumbles from her rivals.

With a Tier I tournament in Charleston and a Tier IV event in Estoril last week there was some major movement in our list.

Russia's Sharapova was promoted to second more because of the failures of the three women ahead of her than due to her own success in South Carolina.

Former number two Jelena Jankovic had a title to defend at the Tier I Charleston event and only managed to reach the last eight falling back one spot to third, while Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic failed to keep up with the Australian Open champion.

Charleston champion Serena Williams, meanwhile, also made a big move up three places to sixth, while runner-up Vera Zvonareva moved up 14 places to break into the top-15.

French teenager Alize Cornet has also been moving up in the world, backing up her semi-finals showing at Amelia Island with another last four performance in South Carolina. Cornet goes from 21st all the way up to 10th in the world of clay.

2008 Claycourt Rankings - WTA world ranking in brackets

1. [1] Justine Henin (BEL) 22 points - Even

2. [3] Maria Sharapova (RUS) 12 - Up three

3. [5] Jelena Jankovic (SER) 12 - Down one

4. [2] Ana Ivanovic (SER) 11 - Down one

5. [4] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 11 - Down one

6. [6] Serena Williams (USA) 10 - Up three

7. [9] Elena Dementieva (RUS) 7 - Up one

8. [29] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 7 - Down two

9. [13] Ágnes Szávay (HUN) 5 - Up three

10. [33] Alize Cornet (FRA) 5 - Up 11

11. [12] Patty Schnyder (SUI) 4 - Up five

12. [16] Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) 4 - Up one

13. [34] Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 4 - Down three

14. [11] Marion Bartoli (FRA) 3 - Up one

15. [14] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 3 - Up 14

FORMULA:

10 winner; 6 runner-up; 4 semi-finalist; 2 quarter-finalist: 2007 French Open

5 winner; 3 runner-up; 2 semi-finalist; 1 quarter-finalist: Charleston, Berlin, Rome, 2006 French Open

3 winner; 2 runner-up; 1 semi-finalist: Vina del Mar, Bogota, Acapulco, Amelia Island, Estoril, Fes, Prague, Istanbul, Strasbourg, Bad Gastein, Barcelona, Budapest, Palermo, 2005 French Open

1 bonus point for any semi-final or better at French Open 2001-2004

Stay tuned on Thursday for the updated men's version of our exclusive claycourt rankings!

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport