After opening round losses in Toronto and Cincinnati to María José Martínez Sánchez and Flavia Pennetta respectively, Pavlyuchenkova advanced to the quarterfinals at the New Haven Open where she lost to Li Na. At the US Open, Pavlyuchenkova was the 17th seed and defeated Anna Tatishvili, Petra Martić and Janković to reach the fourth round. There, she avenged her earlier two losses to Schiavone to cruise into her second Grand Slam quarterfinal where she lost to eventual runner-up Serena Williams in straight sets. At Tokyo, she overcame Arantxa Rus in the first round but was then upset by Vania King in the following round in straight sets.