Date-Krumm falls at first hurdle

Japanese wild card Kimiko Date-Krumm was overcome by No. 9 seed Marion Bartoli in straight sets, failing to advance out of the first round at the Pan Pacific Open on Monday.

Date-Krumm, who turns 42 on Thursday and is currently ranked 107th in the world, had the home crowd behind her on a sunny day at Ariake Tennis Forest Park but could not find a way to break down her world No. 10 opponent in a 6-1, 6-4 defeat.

"She has a lot of speed and plays the ball flat. That suits my game because I can also play the ball flat, but I can't put spins on my balls like say (Samantha) Stosur. I wish I had a ball like that, but I can't suddenly change my game at this late stage in my career," Date-Krumm said. "Bartoli has a very high pace to keep up with."

The former world No. 4, who won this tournament back in 1995, broke Bartoli at 3-3 in the second set, but the Frenchwoman broke right back. Date-Krumm had a chance to break her opponent again when she took a 40-30 lead in the 10th game but netted twice as Bartoli served out the match in one hour, 44 minutes.

"Bartoli has a double first serve, whereas I need work even on my first serve. I lost the first set 6-1, but I had a lot of deuces. The problems were with my serves," said Date-Krumm.

Date-Krumm could have also done without a reportedly drunk fan in the crowd, who she said ruined her focus by yelling out on critical points in the match.

"I heard after the match, it was a drunk. That was a distraction on big points. He might have been rooting for me, but . . ."

Bartoli improved to 4-0 against Date-Krumm for her career.

"I expected for her to fight hard until the end, and that's what she did. So I had to stay focused throughout," said Bartoli of Date-Krumm. "I would love to play at that level when I am 42. I'm 27, and I don't think I could at her age. That's amazing."

Going forward, Date-Krumm will be heading to Beijing for the China Open next week where she will have to qualify and will appear as a wild card at the Japan Women's Open in Osaka from Oct. 8-14.

"I've done what I must do, so I'm not really down about this loss. I came back four years ago, but what do people expect of me? I am still trying to figure out what to do to win," she said.

Qualifier Kurumi Nara, meanwhile, was also ousted in the first round by Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-4 in her second appearance in the main draw at the Tokyo meet.

The 20-year-old Nara, who had won their only other meeting in a qualifier in Cincinnati in 2010, easily dropped the first set. She bounced back to break Radwanska at 2-0 and 4-4 in the second, but the Pole pulled away to win.

"Today I wasn't able to move as well as I did in my two matches in qualification," Nara said. "Her shots were low, but I couldn't get length on my shots. Even so, being able to win two qualifying matches was a real confidence boost going forward."

In other matches, former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, the 11th seed, beat Andrea Hlavackova, 6-3, 2-0, when her Czech opponent retired in the second set due to a left thigh injury, while 17th-seed Russian Nadia Petrova rolled past China's Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-4.

Later in the evening, former world No. 1 and 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who just won the Korea Open in Seoul on Sunday, beat Serbian Bojana Jovanovski 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 in a match stalled by rain.

Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, the 16th seed, downed Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 7-6 (3). Estonia's Kaia Kanepi, runnerup in Seoul and the 15th seed, beat Spanish qualifier Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1, 6-4.

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Date-Krumm set to play in Osaka

Kimiko Date-Krumm has committed to playing in the HP Japan Women's Open in Osaka in October, tournament organizers said Wednesday.

"It's an important tournament in the Kansai region where I grew up," the 41-year-old former world No. 4 told a news conference in Tokyo. "I hope to be in top form at that time."

U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia, currently ranked fifth in the world, is also scheduled to play in the $220,000 WTA event from Oct 8 to 14 at Utsubo Tennis Center.

Last year, Date-Krumm lost to Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic in the first round, but won the doubles title with China's Zhang Shuai.

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