2008 Australian Open – Women's Singles lost to Ivanovic in the fourth round. 2008 Australian Open – Women's Singles Serena Williams was the defending champion, but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Jelena Janković. Maria Sharapova, the runner-up to Williams in 2007, won in the final 7–5, 6–3, against Ana Ivanovic to win her third Grand Slam title and her first at the Australian Open. She was also the first Russian woman to win this tournament. Ivanovic lost in a Grand Slam final for the second time, though she would eventually win the French Open a few months later. This was the first Australian Open appearance
2008 French Open – Women's Singles the final. Maria Sharapova (the incumbent World No. 1 ahead of the tournament following Henin's retirement), Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova were also in contention for the No. 1 ranking at the start of the tournament. Safina had come from a set and match point down in both her fourth round and quarterfinal matches against Sharapova and Elena Dementieva, respectively. This was also the first Grand Slam main draw appearance of future world No. 2 and two-time Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitová. 2008 French Open – Women's Singles Justine Henin was the three-time defending champion, but she retired from the