player Li Na in the first round and achieving her first win over a top-10 player by defeating seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova. In the third round, she defeated 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulková, who retired after Vesnina was leading. In the quarterfinals, she lost to 16th-seeded Kaia Kanepi. At her next tournament, the Indian Wells Open, Vesnina defeated Sabine Lisicki in the first round and 32nd-seeded Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. In the third round, she lost to eighth seed Victoria Azarenka. Vesnina started her 2009 clay-court season in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She upset sixth-seeded Peng Shuai in the first round, and the third-seed Dominika Cibulková in the quarterfinals. She lost to second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. She then reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I Family Circle Cup before losing to Sabine Lisicki. At her next tournament, the Rome Masters, she reached the second round by defeating Jill Craybas but lost to Zheng Jie. She then reached the third round of the Madrid Open and lost to Jelena Janković. She lost to Ágnes Szávay in the second round of the French Open, the first time she'd reached the second round there. She did however reach her first Grand Slam final in the doubles at the French Open partnering Victoria Azarenka. The pair were seeded 12th but lost in the final to the third seeds and defending champions Ruano Pascual and Medina Garrigues. At the Wimbledon Championships, Vesnina defeated Yanina Wickmayer in the first round and Vera Dushevina in the second. She then upset No. 14, Dominika Cibulková, in the third round. Vesnina then fell to No. 4, Elena Dementieva, in the fourth round. At her first event of the US Open Series, in the LA Championships, Vesnina fell to Zheng Jie in the second round, it was followed by first-round loses in the Rogers Cup to Anna Chakvetadze and in the Western & Southern Open to Zheng Jie. At the Pilot Pen Tennis, she upset two top-20 players – a fast-rising Samantha Stosur in the second round, and Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals. She, however, lost to Caroline Wozniacki in her second WTA final and her first in a Premier-event. Vesnina was seeded 31st at the US Open and it was the first time that she had been seeded at a Grand Slam event. She faced Lucie Hradecká in the first round where she came through. In the second