quarterfinals. After that, Sharapova decided to split up with Joyce, ending a successful cooperation that brought her two Grand Slam victories and the world No. 1 ranking. Sharapova participated in the first Grand Slam of the season at the Australian Open, where she was the 14th seed, but lost to Andrea Petkovic in the fourth round. She also had to pull out of the Dubai Championships and the Qatar Open because of an ear infection. Sharapova returned to the tour in March by taking part in the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she was seeded 16th. She defeated former world No. 1, Dinara Safina, in the fourth round en route to the semifinal, where she lost to world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki. At Key Biscayne, Sharapova defeated 26th seed Alexandra Dulgheru in the quarterfinals, in a match lasting 3 hours and 28 minutes. In the semifinals, Sharapova took her Australian Open reprisal on Andrea Petkovic by defeating her. In the final, she was defeated by Victoria Azarenka, despite a late comeback in the second set. With this result, Sharapova returned to the top 10 for the first time since February 2009. During the clay-court season, Sharapova participated in Madrid Open, where she lost to Dominika Cibulková in the third round, and the Italian Open, where she was seeded seventh. She defeated top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals and sixth seed Samantha Stosur in the final to take home the title, marking her biggest clay-court victory to date. At the 2011 French Open, Sharapova was seeded seventh. She defeated French wildcard Caroline Garcia in the second round, despite trailing 3–6, 1–4, before winning the last 11 games of the match. In the quarterfinals, she defeated 15th seed Andrea Petkovic, marking her first Grand Slam semifinal since her comeback from the career-threatening shoulder injury. She then lost to sixth seed and eventual champion, Li Na, in the semifinals, ending her clay season with a win–loss record of 12–2. At the Wimbledon Championships, Sharapova had not dropped a set entering the final, before losing to eighth seed Petra Kvitová, in straight sets. This marked her first final in over three years at a Grand Slam event. Sharapova started her summer hard-court season at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California. In a highly anticipated match, Sharapova lost to the eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. In her next event