One day short of her 40th birthday, Kimiko Date Krumm defied her age to upset Maria Sharapova at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Monday.
The Japanese wildcard, who went close to becoming the oldest player to win a WTA Tour event in Korea last week, stunned the 12th seed 7-5 3-6 6-3 in their first-round match in front of a rapturous home crowd.
Sharapova served 11 double faults in the loss and said she struggled against her crafty opponent.
"Kimiko was a new opponent for me, so I had to try and figure her out," the former world number one said.
"She stays low and likes the ball hit hard at her, and then she steps in and changes direction."
"She did that really well. I had my ups and downs but couldn't take control when I was up."
Sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who received a bye in the first round, became the first player through to the third round when she beat Olga Govortsova of Bulgaria 6-2 6-3.
Third seed Jelena Jankovic followed suit soon after, dispatching Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-4 6-1.
Former world number one Dinara Safina suffered a setback in her comeback from injury going down to German Julia Goerges in three sets in their first-round encounter.
Safina trailed by a set and 5-2 but fought back to claim the second set 7-5, only to capitulate 6-2 in the third to hand the match to Goerges.
In other first-round results, 10th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova played just seven games against Agnes Szavay before the Hungarian withdrew with injury, while 11th seed Marion Bartoli progressed to the second round with a 6-4 6-4 win over Yanina Wickmayer.
Israel's Shahar Peer, the 13th seed, fought back from a set down against Timea Bacsinszky before triumphing 5-7 7-5 6-4, while Serbia's Ana Ivanovic cruised past Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 6-2.
The news wasn't as good for 15th seed Nadia Petrova, who was upset by Italian qualifier Roberta Vinci 7-5 6-4.
Alexandra Dulgheru beat qualifier Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-3 6-0, Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova defeated Kurumi Nara 4-6 6-2 6-1, while Sara Errani and Coco Vanderweghe also progressed to the second round.
The Japanese wildcard, who went close to becoming the oldest player to win a WTA Tour event in Korea last week, stunned the 12th seed 7-5 3-6 6-3 in their first-round match in front of a rapturous home crowd.
Sharapova served 11 double faults in the loss and said she struggled against her crafty opponent.
"Kimiko was a new opponent for me, so I had to try and figure her out," the former world number one said.
"She stays low and likes the ball hit hard at her, and then she steps in and changes direction."
"She did that really well. I had my ups and downs but couldn't take control when I was up."
Sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who received a bye in the first round, became the first player through to the third round when she beat Olga Govortsova of Bulgaria 6-2 6-3.
Third seed Jelena Jankovic followed suit soon after, dispatching Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-4 6-1.
Former world number one Dinara Safina suffered a setback in her comeback from injury going down to German Julia Goerges in three sets in their first-round encounter.
Safina trailed by a set and 5-2 but fought back to claim the second set 7-5, only to capitulate 6-2 in the third to hand the match to Goerges.
In other first-round results, 10th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova played just seven games against Agnes Szavay before the Hungarian withdrew with injury, while 11th seed Marion Bartoli progressed to the second round with a 6-4 6-4 win over Yanina Wickmayer.
Israel's Shahar Peer, the 13th seed, fought back from a set down against Timea Bacsinszky before triumphing 5-7 7-5 6-4, while Serbia's Ana Ivanovic cruised past Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 6-2.
The news wasn't as good for 15th seed Nadia Petrova, who was upset by Italian qualifier Roberta Vinci 7-5 6-4.
Alexandra Dulgheru beat qualifier Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-3 6-0, Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova defeated Kurumi Nara 4-6 6-2 6-1, while Sara Errani and Coco Vanderweghe also progressed to the second round.
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