Carlsbad, CA (AHN) - With better and more talented players hitting the courts in recent years, women's tennis has certainly become a more powerful sport.

The WTA Tour has come up with a new statistic called a "power index" to explore just how powerful the sport's women have become. The stat is figured by combining a player's fastest groundstroke (forehand or backhand), first and second serves, first and second serve returns and smash or volley into one score.

Venus Williams, on the heels of becoming the lowest seeded player to ever win Wimbledon, was top-ranked in the new stat during last week's Acura Classic, averaging 94.5 mph on her hardest shots.

Maria Kirilenko was second to Williams at 92.7 mph, while Victoria Azarenka was third at 92.3 mph. Tournament champion Maria Sharapova proved being the most powerful player on the tour isn't everything as she was fourth at 90.5 mph.

The statistic, which utilizes ball-tracking technology from Hawk-Eye Innovations, measures players' shots during center-court match play. Hawk-Eye is the same company that runs tennis' instant replay function.

"Other leading professional sports have introduced new methods to measure and compare the performance of their players to provide another level of insight for fans," tour president Stacy Allaster told AP. "The power index affords that same opportunity for women's tennis."