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As the sixth seed at the 2009 Australian Open, Williams lost in the second round to Carla Suárez Navarro after holding a match point in the third set.

However, she teamed up with Serena to win the women's doubles title at the event, their eighth Grand Slam doubles title together.

Venus rebounded in singles play in February at the Premier 5 ( formerly Tier I ) Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating defending champion and World No. 4 Dementieva in the quarterfinals and World No. 1 Serena in the semifinals on a third set tiebreak.

The latter win meant that Venus led the head-to-head in career matches with her sister for the first time since 2002.

Venus went on to defeat Virginie Razzano in the final.

This win meant Williams was ranked in the top five for the first time since 2003, while it also marked her 40th professional singles title, only the twelfth player in the open era to achieve the feat.

Williams won another title the following week at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Mexico, defeating Pennetta in the final.

This was her first title on clay since 2005.