Date Krumm shocks Safina in Roland Garros opener
Last year’s French Open runner-up, Dinara Safina, has been defeated in the opening round of this year’s tournament.
Safina, still on the comeback trail from a debilitating back injury, was bested by 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm in three sets on day three at Roland Garros.
The Russian took the first set against Date Krumm before the world No. 72 worked her way back into the match to record a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over last year’s runner up in her first appearance in the main draw of the French Open since 1996, when she reached the fourth round.
It’s a result made all the more impressive, or disappointing depending on the perspective from which it is viewed, given the fact that after dropping the second set, Safina looked to be on course for victory after she had secured a 4-1 lead in deciding set.
Date Krumm allowed Safina just one more game for the match as she sealed her first victory at a Grand Slam since slipping quietly back onto the professional circuit in 2008 after 12 years out of the game.
The fact Date Krumm achieved the victory while herself overcoming leg problems – heavy strapping on her right thigh attesting to that fact – only rubs salt into the wound for Safina.
The result becomes even more disappointing for Safina when you consider that Date Krumm won the match despite hitting a whopping 63 unforced errors, which were admittedly balanced somewhat by 37 winners compared to just 12 from Safina’s racquet.
The Japanese veteran’s victory over the ninth seed also marks her first win over a top-10 player in part two of her career, as the milestones continue to mount for a player who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 all the way back in 1995.
It’s a result that, it’s fair to say, would likely have been beyond the current world No. 72 if Safina was riding the same wave of confidence she took into the French Open in 2009. Date Krumm, however, has made the most of her opportunities against Safina as the former world No. 1 battles to rediscover winning form on her return from the back injury sustained last year and which flared again during the Australian Open.
Date Krumm, who in Seoul last year became the second oldest WTA Tour titlist (behind only the great Billie Jean King) is now the second oldest winner of a match at the French Open during the Open Era after Virginia Wade.
Date Krumm now faces a second round match against Australian wildcard Jarmila Groth and the very real prospect of reaching at least the third round at a tournament where she was a semi-finalist all the way back in 1995.
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