the Sony Ericsson Open and the Family Circle Cup. Returning at the Madrid Open, Sharapova lost in the first round to Lucie Šafářová. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg as a wildcard, advancing to the final, where she beat Kristina Barrois. This was her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title. At the French Open, Sharapova's brief clay season culminated with a third-round loss to four-time champion Justine Henin. Sharapova began her preparations for Wimbledon at the Aegon Classic. She advanced to the final for the fourth time, where she lost to Li Na. As the 16th seed at Wimbledon, Sharapova lost in the fourth round to world No. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams, despite having three set points in the opening set. The match was seen as another encouraging performance for Sharapova, with some stating their belief that she was approaching the form that would see her contending for Grand Slams once more, and Sharapova herself stating that she felt that she was "in a much better spot than I was last year." During the US Open Series, Sharapova made two straight finals, losing to Victoria Azarenka at the Bank of the West Classic, and to Kim Clijsters at the Western & Southern Open. In the latter match, Sharapova held three match points while leading 5–3 on Clijsters's serve late in the second set, but could not convert them. At the US Open, Sharapova was the 14th seed. She made it to the fourth round, where she played top seed and 2009 finalist Caroline Wozniacki and lost. Sharapova's last two tournaments of the season ended in disappointment. She played in the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she was upset in the first round by 39-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm. Her last tournament of the year was the China Open, where she lost in the second round to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina. She ended the year at number 18 in the world. 2011: Return to the top 10 It was announced that Sharapova would bring in Thomas Högstedt as a coach for the 2011 season, joining Michael Joyce. On 5 December, Sharapova won an exhibition match against world No. 2 Vera Zvonareva in Monterrey, Mexico. In Sharapova's first official Australian Open warm-up tournament at the Auckland Open, she was top-seeded. She lost to the Hungarian veteran and eventual champion, Gréta Arn, in the