History repeats for Dinara Safina against Kimiko Date Krumm
It was a case of déjà vu for Dinara Safina and Kimiko Date Krumm when they faced off in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford overnight.
The 39-year-old Date Krumm, just as she’d done against the former world No. 1 in the first round of the French Open at the end of May, pegged back a one-set deficit to win the match at Stanford 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-2 and end Safina’s stay at the tournament almost before it had started.
The result continues a disappointing run of form for Safina, who aggravated a back injury in the fourth round of the Australian Open and subsequently missed three months of competition, before returning to action at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart at the end of April.
The world No. 35’s ongoing back problems also forced her to withdraw from Wimbledon this year, and she was returning to competition once again in Stanford, but, as was the case earlier this year, it has proved to be a difficult transition for Safina to make.
Since her loss to then 20th ranked Shahar Peer in the Stuttgart quarter-finals, Safina has been defeated in five straight matches by players ranked outside the top-40, with her loss to world No. 61 Date Krumm the latest in her string of what is now six straight defeats. The Russian’s last victory came against Agnes Szavay in the second round in Stuttgart.
It’s fair to say though that in a year that has been severely curtailed by injury, just being back on the court and competing is a victory of sorts for Safina, who said after her loss to the evergreen Japanese player that her back felt fine.
There was better news, however, for Ana Ivanovic, who turned the tables on Alisa Kleybanova in Stanford with a 6-3, 6-2 victory that should go some way to boosting the Serb’s confidence as the northern American hard court season gets underway. The pair had last met in the second round of the French Open, where the Russian recorded a 6-3, 6-0 victory as Ivanovic imploded on the other side of the net.
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