Serena Williams' Ranking Falls to No. 453 After Baby Thanks to Sexism

Serena Williams, formerly ranked the number one tennis player in the world, and possibly the greatest athlete ever to set foot on earth, has been moved to a ranking of 453 after giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, The New York Timesreports.

Williams has already had a victory since having her child, winning at the Indian Wells Masters in California over International Women's Day (but losing in the third round), but in the current French Open, she'll have to compete against top players first, whilst other work their way up to combating the top seed athletes.

The tournament has opted to follow the Women's Tennis Association rule of rankings, when they could have decided to place her seed at her pre-birth ranking.

Related | Serena Williams Wants Women to 'Be Fearless' in Essay for Black Women's Equal Pay Day

Current number one-ranked player Simona Halep is among those taking issue with the tournament's choice of ranking for Williams, saying in The Root's report: "It's normal to give birth. It's normal to have protected ranking ... in my opinion it's good to protect the ranking when someone is giving birth."

Others, including Maria Sharapova and, interestingly, Ivanka Trump, have also publically come out against the ranking decision.

We're still confident Serena will emerge the champion she is.