to a new career-high of world No. 3, before later briefly becoming the No. 2 in October. She qualified for the year-ending WTA Championships for the first time in her career, but she lost all three of her round robin matches. She finished the year ranked No. 3, the first time she had finished a year in the world's top 10. 2009: Australian & French Open finals, world No. 1 Safina began 2009 by representing Russia with her brother Marat Safin in the Hopman Cup. They lost to the Slovakian team in the final. Safina played her first WTA Tour tournament of the season in Sydney, where she lost in the final to Elena Dementieva. At the Australian Open, Safina defeated Alizé Cornet in the fourth round. Safina defeated the Australian wild-card entry Jelena Dokić in the quarterfinals and Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals to reach the second Grand Slam final of her career. She lost to Serena Williams in the final in 59 minutes. After losing early in Dubai to Virginie Razzano, Safina went on to the Indian Wells tournament, where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Victoria Azarenka. In Miami, Safina lost in the third round to Samantha Stosur. On April 20, Safina became the 19th player, and second Russian after Maria Sharapova, to be ranked world No. 1 by the WTA. Safina and her brother Marat Safin are the first ever brother-sister world No. 1 pair, with Safin having been ranked world No. 1 by the ATP earlier in his career. Safina started the clay season with fresh determination to win a Grand Slam. Playing in her first tournament as the world No. 1, Safina lost in the final of the indoor clay court event in Stuttgart to Svetlana Kuznetsova. The following week in Rome, Safina defeated Venus Williams in the semifinals, and Kuznetsova in the final. Safina then advanced to the final at the Madrid event, where she defeated Caroline Wozniacki to win her second consecutive title. As the top seed at the French Open, Safina dropped only five games in advancing to the quarterfinals. She eventually advanced to her third Grand Slam final and second straight French Open final, where she lost to Kuznetsova in straight sets. At Wimbledon, Safina advanced to the fourth round for the first time, where she defeated 2006 champion Amélie Mauresmo. She went on to reach the semifinals before