the Australian Open, she was seeded seventh. In the fourth round against ninth seed Vera Zvonareva she rallied to win, but lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinal. Azarenka was up a set and four games before Williams came back to win in three sets. This was the third consecutive year she has lost to Williams at this tournament. Seeded fourth at the Dubai Tennis Championships, on her way to the final, she defeated Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals and Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to defending champion Venus Williams. At the BNP Paribas Open, she was seeded third, but was upset in the third round by María José Martínez Sánchez. At the Sony Ericsson Open, where she was the defending champion and fourth seed, she lost in fourth round to 14th seed and eventual champion Kim Clijsters. This was the fourth match in the five tournaments this year that Azarenka lost to eventual champions. At the Andalucia Tennis Experience, she was the top seed but retired in her quarterfinal match against María José Martínez Sánchez, citing a left thigh injury. Seeded third at the Family Circle Cup, she retired from her first match while leading against qualifier Christina McHale. At the Porsche Grand Prix, she was upset in the second round by qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova, who was ranked No. 138 at the time. At the Italian Open, as the ninth seed, Azarenka was defeated by Ana Ivanovic. As the tenth seed at the Madrid Open, Azarenka retired from her first round match against Peng Shuai citing a groin injury. At the 2010 French Open, Azarenka was defeated in the first round by unseeded Gisela Dulko. As she reached the quarterfinals in 2009, this loss caused Azarenka to drop to world No. 15. Azarenka was unseeded at the Aegon International. Azarenka fell to qualifier Ekaterina Makarova in the final. Azarenka was seeded 14th at Wimbledon. She lost to eventual semifinalist Petra Kvitová in the third round. The defeat dropped Azarenka to world No. 18, as she was defending quarterfinal points from 2009. To begin the summer hard-court season, Azarenka competed in the Bank of the West Classic as a wild card and eighth seed. Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova in the final, after defeating top seed Samantha Stosur in the semifinals, to win her first title since April 2009. The win propelled Azarenka to world No.