Pavlyuchenkova started her 2012 season with a loss to eventual champion Kaia Kanepi in the second round of the Brisbane International. She then dropped her opening match in Sydney to Andrea Petkovic, and exited the Australian Open in the second round to Vania King. She then suffered a four-match losing streak in the next two months before snapping it at the Family Circle Cup in April where she beat Eleni Daniilidou in her opening match in three sets. She then lost to compatriot Nadia Petrova in the following round. After that, she dropped both her singles matches while on Fed Cup duty in the semifinals against Serbia.