time in six years in May, the nadir being world No. 126. Playing her first singles tournament in nearly ten months, Sharapova made the quarterfinals of the clay-court Warsaw Open in May, losing to finalist Alona Bondarenko. The following week, in her first Grand Slam appearance since her surgery, she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, before her run was ended by Dominika Cibulková. During the summer grass-court season, Sharapova played in Birmingham, losing in the semifinals to Li Na. Sharapova then played at Wimbledon as the 24th seed. She was upset in the second round by Gisela Dulko in three sets. Sharapova enjoyed considerable success in the summer months, reaching the quarterfinals at the Bank of the West Classic, the semifinals at the LA Women's Championships, and finishing runner-up at the Rogers Cup to Elena Dementieva. At the US Open, Sharapova was seeded 29th. She found her way into the third round, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova and Christina McHale, all in straight sets. She was stunned in the third round by American teenager Melanie Oudin. It was the second time in Sharapova's career that she lost to a teenager at a Grand Slam tournament, having lost to Agnieszka Radwańska during the same event in 2007. The loss made Sharapova's ranking go down to No. 32. The final stretch of the season brought Sharapova her first title of the year in Tokyo, after opponent Jelena Janković retired after being down 2–5 to Sharapova in the final. By virtue of that result, she was the recipient of a bye at the China Open, but failed to capitalize on it, losing to Peng Shuai in the third round. She ultimately finished the season at world No. 14, having improved from No. 126 when she started her comeback from injury. After playing two exhibition tournaments in Asia, Sharapova officially began her season at the Australian Open, where she was upset in her first-round match against Maria Kirilenko. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event. She then rebounded by winning a smaller American event, the Cellular South Cup, her 21st career WTA title and first of the year. At the Indian Wells Open, Sharapova lost in the third round to Zheng Jie, aggravating a bruised bone on her right elbow in the process, which resulted in her eventual withdrawal from