Maria Sharapova awoke yesterday to a phone call from her father saying, “Good morning, champion.” The Russian teen had taken over the WTA Tour’s no. 1 ranking from Lindsay Davenport, who had held the top spot since October.

Sharapova is the 15th player and the first Russian to be no. 1 since the tour began its computer rankings in 1975. At 18, she’s also the fifth youngest to hold the top spot, following Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Tracy Austin, and Steffi Graf.

The no. 1 ranking means she’ll likely be the top seed in the U.S. Open, which begins next Monday.

Sharapova knew 10 days ago that she’d jump a spot to no. 1 when this week’s rankings were released. She could have overtaken Davenport with a victory at the JPMorgan Chase Open, but had to withdraw before the quarterfinals because of a strained chest muscle.

She skipped last weekend’s Rogers Cup in Toronto because of the same injury. But Davenport didn’t play the Rogers Cup, either, because of a lower back injury, and she didn’t have enough points to stay ahead of Sharapova this week.

Davenport dropped a spot to no. 2. The Californian has been no. 1 for 82 weeks – although not consecutively – during her career.

Since withdrawing from the JPMorgan Chase, Sharapova has been doing physical therapy and practicing. The injury isn’t from overuse, either. Sharapova recently discovered that she’d grown another inch – she’s now 6-foot-2 – since March, and the rest of her body is catching up.