in the qualifying round. She then received direct entry in the İstanbul Cup, French Open, DFS Classic, all losing in the first round and failed to qualify in the Hastings Direct International Championships. She, however, made a shocking performance in Wimbledon, claiming her first Grand Slam match-win and upsetting 20th seed Tatiana Golovin in the first round, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5, before falling to Nathalie Dechy 1–6, 4–6 in the third round. She then made early exits at Modena, Palermo, in the Nordea Nordic Light Open and the US Open. Her last good performance of the year was in the Wismilak International where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Li Na after defeating top Australian player Alicia Molik in the previous round. She ended the year for the first time inside the top 100, at 73. 2006 2006 was a breakthrough year for Bondarenko as she made it inside the top 50, after quarterfinal appearances at Hobart and Bangalore, and first-round exits in Pattaya and at the Australian Open as well as early exits in Dubai, Doha, and Indian Wells. With her early exit in Indian Wells, Bondarenko decided to compete in Orange, California, an ITF event, claiming the title over Yvonne Meusburger 6–3, 7–5. Then she made stellar performances in the WTA Tour, making it to the third round of the Pacific Life Open entering as a qualifier, losing to Ana Ivanovic 3–6, 7–5, 3–6. On the clay-court season, she made it through the second rounds of top events at the Amelia Island Championships, losing to Vera Dushevina 1–6, 4–6, and the Family Circle Cup, losing to eventual champion Nadia Petrova 1–6, 6–0, 2–6, the second set was the fewest games Petrova won in a set in the whole tournament. She made it through the quarterfinals of Prague Open, losing to eventual champion Shahar Pe'er 5–7, 0–6, and the semifinals of Morocco Open, losing to Martina Suchá 3–6, 2–6. She made first-round exits in the İstanbul Cup, French Open and DFS Classic but made it through the second round of the Ordina Open before falling to Jelena Janković 4–6, 6–1, 6–7 and then a first-round exit in Wimbledon. In the US Open Series tournaments, she lost in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic and Rogers Cup, the second round of Acura Classic and the US Open, and the third round of the JPMorgan Chase Open.