round of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, the second round of the Tier-I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, and the second round of the Zurich Open, Hantuchová was seeded third at the Luxembourg Open. However, she lost to world No. 39 Sorana Cîrstea in the quarterfinals. Because she won only 11 of 26 singles matches after the Indian Wells tournament, Hantuchová finished the year ranked world No. 21, her lowest year-end ranking and first finish out of the top 20 since 2004. She was 0–5 during the year versus players ranked in the top ten at the time the matches were played, with losses to Ivanovic, Sharapova, Janković, and Zvonareva (twice). 2009: Australian Open doubles runner-up and consistent results in singles Hantuchová began the 2009 WTA Tour by participating in the Brisbane International as the tournament's fourth-seeded player. She was upset in the first round by Sara Errani. Hantuchová then played the Sydney International, where she lost in the second round to sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska. At the Australian Open, Hantuchová was seeded 19th and defeated home favorite Casey Dellacqua in their first-round match. She then beat Mathilde Johansson of France in the second round, before losing to 15th-seeded Alizé Cornet in the third round in three sets. In the doubles competition, Hantuchová and her partner Ai Sugiyama made it to the final, where they lost to Serena Williams and Venus Williams. At the Paris Indoors, Hantuchová beat Ekaterina Makarova in the first round, before losing to Cornet in the second round. This was the third consecutive time she has lost to Cornet. Hantuchová then played in the Dubai Championships, where she lost to eventual runner-up Virginie Razzano in the third round. Because of her results at this tournament, Hantuchová's ranking improved five places to world No. 36. At Indian Wells, Hantuchová was the only two-time singles champion in the draw. Seeded 30th, Hantuchová fell to Sybille Bammer in the fourth round. Unseeded for the first time since 2001 at the Miami Open, Hantuchová lost to 22nd-seeded Anna Chakvetadze in the second round. Starting off the spring clay-court season, as a wildcard at the Amelia Island Championships, Hantuchová defeated eighth-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round. She then lost to eventual champion and second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. Playing in the Fed Cup World Group play-offs, Hantuchová defeated Alizé Cornet in the first-round rubber, but lost to Amélie Mauresmo