The Kazakh team’s good form continued in Madrid this week, where they reached the quarterfinals before falling to the 4th seeds Kirilenko/Petrova.

Slava and Galina will play together again during the grass season to continue their preparation for London. For Roland Garros, the two-time Grand Slam champion team of King/Shvedova will be back together!

With those two excellent results, Slava’s singles ranking rose from 170 to 148 but unfortunately wasn’t high enough to get into singles in Miami so it was doubles only there and the first WTA tournament together for the Olympic team, Shvedova/Voskoboeva. They got their first win against the strong team of Cibulkova/Jankovic, but in the 2nd round they lost to King/Niculescu. “It was so strange to see Vania on the other side of the net! I like it better when she’s on my side,” Slava joked. “It was bad luck to have to play each other so early, but Vania and Monica played well and they had a good tournament together there.”

The week off singles did not affect Slava’s great momentum, and in Charleston she got through qualifying, then dominated Panova in the 1st round of main draw and upset 12th-seed Wickmayer in straight sets in the 2nd round before being stopped by 6th-seed Lisicki in a close 3rd round match. The win against Wickmayer was Slava’s first top 30 win since she beat Petrova in San Diego in 2010, but as she continues to climb in the singles rankings, she is focusing more on how she plays rather than who she beats. “I don’t really follow the stats. I have to beat a player whether they’re ranked No.200 or No.20. I’ve changed my way of thinking when I play – I think about each point separately, each set and each match. I’m focused and I know what to do better now. And it’s working – I feel very calm and confident on the court.”

And Slava wasn’t done in Charleston yet! She had even more success in doubles, teaming up with Anabel Medina Garrigues for the first time. “Vania and Galina had already confirmed with other partners by the time I decided to play Charleston so Anabel and I agreed to try together and it went very well!” They made it all the way to the finals where they lost a tight battle to Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova 10-6 in the match tiebreak.

Slava was one of the biggest movers in the rankings the week after Charleston, climbing up 20 spots to 130 in singles. She had a couple of weeks off for rest and training, and now heads to the clay courts in Europe. “I can’t wait to be back on the red clay. I love those tournaments and I’m going to keep working hard to continue improving my game and feeling more comfortable on the court”.

Slava and Vania will play together at Roland Garros where they reached the semifinals last year and plan to play together again full time after the Olympics. “I’m already looking forward to being back on court with Vania after the Olympics. She is a good friend of mine and I miss her a lot. It will be strange to be at a tournament and not play with her. Because of singles we have different schedules this year and we don’t get to see each other as much so we’ll have to go for lots of dinners and lunches when we are at the same tournament to make up the time.”

With perseverance and hard work, Slava’s success in singles continued as she headed to Central America and she is working her way back up the singles rankings. In Bogota, she qualified and reached the quarterfinals at a WTA tournament for the first time since ‘s-Hertogenbosch 2010. She received a wild card for the main draw in Monterrey and beat her good friend and compatriot Sesil Karatantcheva in the 1st round before losing a tough match against Mandy Minella in the 2nd round. “I was happy to win some matches because it’s been a long time since I’ve done so well in singles,” Slava said. “In February I am focusing on singles only and working to get my ranking back. It is my wish to qualify for the Olympics in singles. My main goal is to get my game and good feeling back on court in singles. I know I need some time and take it step by step to get there again”. She also had some fun off the court in Monterrey doing a clinic with sponsors and kids and getting a cooking lesson from a Mexican chef!

In Acapulco, Slava reached the final round of qualifying but unfortunately had to retire with a thigh strain. “I was very disappointed to retire in the final round”, Slava said. “I will do some rehab this week and hopefully be ready to play again next week.” Slava plans to play two ITFs in Mexico at the beginning of March before heading to Miami for the Sony Ericsson Open.