Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm rallied to beat defending champion Maria Sharapova 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 yesterday in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open.
Date Krumm, who is one day short of her 40th birthday, broke the 23-year-old Russian to go up 5-3 in the third set and won the final game when Sharapova’s backhand went wide.
“To play against a former World No. 1 and defending champion, I knew I had to play to the best of my ability,” said Date Krumm, who returned to competitive tennis in 2008 after a 12-year layoff.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Sharapova, who is the tournament’s 12th-seeded player, had 11 double faults in the match that lasted two hours and nine minutes at Ariake Colosseum.
Sharapova broke Date to go up 3-2 in the final set and was leading 40-love in the sixth game when she double faulted twice before being broken by Date Krumm.
It was the first meeting between the two players. Sharapova said she was impressed with Date Krumm’s ability and fitness after such a long layoff.
PHOTO: AFP
“It’s incredible,” Sharapova said. “It just shows you how she has stayed in such great shape while away from the game. She is incredibly fit.”
■MALAYSIAN OPEN
AFP, KUALA LUMPUR
Sergiy Stakhovsky became the first of the seeds to reach the second round of the Malaysian Open yesterday with a 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 defeat of American Michael Russell.
The 31st-ranked Stakhovsky, seeded seventh, won his 25th match of the season, sealing a second match point with his 12th ace and converting to take the victory after two-and-three-quarter hours of battle.
The Ukrainian saved five of the 10 break-points he faced while dominating the serve of Russell on just four of 15 chances.
Two Colombian Davis Cup players split a pair of opening-day matches, with Santiago Giraldo defeating Pole Michal Przysiezny 7-6 (10/8), 6-1, while South African Kevin Anderson eliminated Alejandro Falla 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
Four of the tournament top five all played in a weekend exhibition in Macau, arriving in Malaysia on the same flight.
Two-time Roland Garros finalist Robin Soderling heads the field with Russian holder Nikolay Davydenko second. Czech Tomas Berdych, the Wimbledon finalist against Rafael Nadal, takes the third seeding. Spain’s David Ferrer is seeded fifth behind US Open semi-finalist Mikhail Youzhny indoors at the Putra Stadium.
■OPEN DE MOSELLE
AP, METZ, FRANCE
Eighth-seeded Gilles Simon of France easily beat qualifier Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday to win the Open de Moselle and clinch his seventh career title.
Simon, who won his last title on hard courts at Bangkok in October last year, made quick work of beating Zverev in one hour, seven minutes.
Simon had earlier beaten Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany by the same score in only 54 minutes in their semi-final and came into the final in confident mood.
The 155th-ranked Zverev struggled to impose himself in his first career final and was always under pressure, saving seven of 10 break-points and failing to trouble Simon with his normally assured volleying game.
■BCR OPEN ROMANIA
AP, BUCHAREST
Juan Ignacio Chela defeated Spanish qualifier Pablo Andujar 7-5, 6-1 on Sunday to win the BCR Open Romania for his sixth career title.
The fourth-seeded Argentine broke Andujar three times in the first and twice in the second.
Andujar broke twice in the first set but appeared to tire at 5-5, dropping eight of the next nine games. His semi-final on Saturday had lasted more than three hours.
The 105th-ranked Andujar made too many unforced errors throughout the match. At 4-1 in the second set, Andujar made two consecutive double faults to lose the game. Chela served out the match.
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