In February, Pironkova played in Qatar, where she made it through the qualifying rounds. She beat veteran world No. 14, Roberta Vinci, in the first round, losing just six games. However, Pironkova's good run ended in the second round, where she lost to youngster No. 55, Annika Beck, after winning the first set on a tie-break. She then played in Dubai. In the first round of qualifying, she beat world No. 487, Vitalia Diatchenko, in a long and hard match (over 2 and a half hours), losing the first set on a tiebreak, saving a match point in the 10th game of the second set, then winning the second set again on a tiebreak, and was leading in the third set when her opponent retired. However, in what was her second loss against the Canadian out of two matches, she lost in the second qualifying round to youngster, No. 19, Eugenie Bouchard.