Sharapova loses to Date Krumm in 2010 Pan Pacific Open
Image courtesy of jaimeintherough.com
The 2010 Pan Pacific Open has had its first major upset. The defending champion Maria Sharapova lost her first round match to Japanese Kimiko Date Krumm in three sets with 7-5, 3-6 and 6-3 on Monday.
Date Krumm will celebrate her 40th birthday tomorrow. In the deciding third set, she managed to break 23-year-old Sharapova for a 5-3 lead and then served out for the match.
Date Krumm returned to playing tennis competitively back in 2008 after she took a 12 year break. In an interview after the match she said that she had to play her best tennis in order to beat a former world number 1 player and defending champion.
Sharapova struggled with her service again. The 12th-seeded player had a total of 11 double faults in the match that lasted a little over 2 hours. The Russian said after the match that everything is about momentum. She gave her opponent too many chances to get confident by committing too many unforced errors, especially on her service. But she also credited a lot to Date Krumm’s incredible fitness level.
Date Krumm just came off the Seoul tournament where she lost in the quarters.
Related posts:
- Wozniacki beats Sharapova at 2010 U.S. Open
- Maria Sharapova in third round of 2010 U.S. Open
- Maria Sharapova in 2010 Cincinnati Open Final
- Beatrice Capra to play Maria Sharapova at 2010 U.S. Open
- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ousted at 2010 Korea Open
