Williams' came into 2010 as the world no. 1 and began her 2010 campaign at Medibank International Sydney. She received a bye in the first round being the top seed and faced María José Martínez Sánchez in the next round, whom she defeated convincingly.[1] In the quarterfinals she faced Vera Dushevina and won in two sets.[2] Her next opponent was Frenchwoman Aravane Rezaï, who took the first set and lead in the second set and was serving the match out. However, Williams went on a streak and won the next six games in a row to take the second set and take a lead in the third set. Rezaï broke back at the 2nd and 8th game, but Williams broke again in the 9th game and served it out, beating Rezaï to advance to the final.[3] In the final, Williams fell to Elena Dementieva after being hampered by a troublesome left knee she had strapped for the match.[4]
Australian Open
Williams won both the singles and doubles title with sister Venus.
Williams' then entered the Australian Open as the top seed and favorite to win the title. Her campaign began against Poland's Urszula Radwańska, who she beat comfortably.[5] In the second round she defeated Petra Kvitová. Williams hit 34 winners to Kvitová's 17.[citation needed] Williams then faced Carla Suárez Navarro, Williams won the first set, however, Williams had difficulty closing the first set needing eight set points in a game that went to deuce 13 times and lasted longer than the previous five games combined. But Suarez Navarro could not capitalize on the opportunities and Williams won the set. Williams then broke Suarez Navarro to win the match.[6] Williams then faced Australia's Samantha Stosur and ended the Australian's hope by winning in straight sets and hitting 10 aces along the way.[7] Williams' next opponent was Victoria Azarenka, whom Williams dropped the opening set to and was trailing 0–4 in the second set. Williams mounted a comeback, taking the next five games in a row, winning the second set in a tie-break; and took the match by winning the third set.[8] Williams won against China's Li Na; Williams won in two straight tie-break sets to advance to the final.[9] Williams then faced rival Justine Henin in their first match in a slam final. Williams broke in the fourth game, Henin then broke to get back on serve. However, Williams then broke once again to take the first set. Henin saved two break points in a four-game run in the second set, winning 13 of the last 14 points to claim the set. She continued on her streak in the last set, increasing that to 18 of 19 points, but Williams held serve to even the third set. The two then traded breaks which saw Williams lead with a break, and never looked back as Williams took the final three games to win the grand slam title. Williams' five Australian singles titles is the most by any woman in the Open Era (since 1968), surpassing the four held by Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Steffi Graf, and Monica Seles. Court holds 11 Australian Open titles overall, most coming before the Open Era.[10][11][12] Williams also is the first female player to win consecutive Australian Open singles titles since Jennifer Capriati in 2001–02.[13]
A leg injury then caused Williams to withdraw from five consecutive tournaments, including the Premier 5 Dubai Tennis Championships and the Premier Mandatory Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne.
Clay court season and French Open
Internazionali BNL d'Italia
As the world no. 1, Williams received a wild card at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. As the top seed she received a bye into the second round, where she faced Timea Bacsinszky, Bacsinszky lead twice and had three set points, however Williams took it to a tie-break and won the first set. Williams then cruised with the second set.[15] In the third round, she faced Andrea Petkovic, Williams broke Petkovic fifth and seventh and won the first set. Petkovic won the second set. Williams dominated the 3rd set.[16] In the quarterfinals, she faced Russian Maria Kirilenko and Williams won in two sets.[17] In the semifinals, a rematch of the 2008 US Open final, when Williams faced Jelena Janković, with both trading sets. Williams served for the match and had a match point, but the match went to a tie-break. Williams led 5–2 in the tie-break and lost 5 points in a row for Janković to get the win.[18]
Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
Williams won singles and doubles title with sister Venus in Madrid.
Williams then played the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open. She received a first round bye. She faced Vera Dushevina in her first match, Williams had three set point in the first set, but Dushevina came back and won it in the tie-break. In the second set Williams faced a match point on serve but saved it and went on to win the set in a tie-break. In the final set Williams led early, but squandered the lead as the set went to a tie-break, which Williams won despite trailing 4–0 in the tie-break. Williams made 73 unforced errors in the match. It was Williams longest match in her career with the match taking 3 hours, 26 minutes.[19] In the next round she faced another Russian Nadia Petrova, however this time the result wasn't in Williams' favor as she lost in three sets.[20]
Williams entered the French Open as the world no. 1 and top seed. In her first match, she faced Swiss Stefanie Vögele, who was controlling the first set, but Williams hung on to win it in a tie-break. Williams then cruised in the second set.[22] In the second round, she faced German Julia Görges, Williams took nine straight games in the first set and won in straight sets.[citation needed] She then faced Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Williams took the first set, however Williams fell behind and was visited by the trainer, Pavlyuchenkova eventually won the set. In the third set, Williams saved 3 break points and won the match.[23] In the fourth round, Williams had a relatively easy win over Israel's Shahar Pe'er.[24] In the quarterfinals, Williams faced Samantha Stosur, Stosur took the first set and served for the match, however Williams came back and won in a tie-break. However Stosur saved a match point at 4–5 on serve and then eventually broke Williams in the deciding set and took the match. Williams was too erratic making nine double faults and 46 enforced errors, while Stosur only made 24 unforced errors. It was the first Grand Slam tournament that Williams had not won or been defeated by the eventual champion since the 2008 French Open. Williams has not been able to get past the quarterfinals since 2003.[25]
Williams was entering Wimbledon as the world no. 1, defending champion, and 3 time former champion. She started her campaign for a fourth title against a young Portuguese in Michelle Larcher de Brito. Williams won comfortably beating de Brito in straight sets.[27] In the following round, she faced former world no. 5 Anna Chakvetadze, Williams won the first 11 games, before Chakvetadze was able to get a game, and in the end Williams won in two sets. She also hit 27 winners to her opponents 6.[28] In the third round, she faced another youngster in Dominika Cibulková, Williams served her third 6–0 set of the tournament in the first in just 18 minutes. The second set went on serve until Williamd broke to take the second set and the match. Williams hit 20 aces to her opponents 1.[29] It was followed by a clash against former world no. 1 Maria Sharapova, the first set went to a tie-break and Sharapova served for the set, but Williams pegged her back and won the tie-break. Williams then took the second set.[30] In the quarterfinals, Williams faced China's Li Na, the first set went on served until Williams broke Li late and closed the set. Williams then cruised in the second set.[citation needed] In her following match, Williams took on Petra Kvitová, who has lost in the first round of her previous two appearances at Wimbledon. Kvitová took an early lead breaking Williams in the fifth game, however Williams broke in the eight game and the set went to a tie-break. Williams won the tie-break. As with her previous two matches Williams took the second set with east.[31] Competing in her 6th Wimbledon final, Williams took on surprised finalist Vera Zvonareva, the first set went on serve in the 8th game when Williams broke the Russian's serve with a forehand winner and won the set. The American broke Zvonareva's serve in the first and fifth games of the second set, giving her the Wimbledon title. Williams won an astonishing 31 of the 33 first serves she put in play, ripping nine more aces, running her record tournament total to 89. This win also pushed Williams to her 13th slam, getting ahead of Billie Jean King.[32] After the match, Martina Navratilova said that Williams is in the top 5 of all the women's tennis players in all of history, which she said that "it's not just about how many Slams you win or how many tournaments you win—it's just your game overall. And she's definitely got all the goods."[33]
In the doubles, she once again played with sister Venus as the top seeds. They cruised through their first three matches winning it straight sets, over the teams of Julie Ditty and Renata Voráčová, Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin, and Dominika Cibulková and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. However, they were upset by the Russian team of Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals. This ended their 27 consecutive wins in slams and 18 match winning streak. This is also their first loss as a team in the year.[34]
US Open Series, Asian Swing and WTA Tour Championships
In Munich on July 7, Williams stepped on broken glass while in a restaurant.[35] She received 18 stitches, but the following day she lost an exhibition match to Kim Clijsters in Brussels before a world-record crowd for a tennis match, 35,681 at the King Baudouin Stadium.[36] The cut foot turned out to be a serious injury, requiring surgery and preventing her from playing for the remainder of 2010. As a result, she lost the world no. 1 ranking to Dane Caroline Wozniacki on October 11, 2010.[37]
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