Krumm Date, 39, Pushes Former Champ Svetlana Kuznetsova to Three Sets

Filed under: U.S. Open, WTA, WTA Rankings

NEW YORK -- Kimiko Date Krumm lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday, a match hardly anyone expected her to win.

But Date Krumm became one of this tournament's big winners before she pushed the 2004 Open champ to a third set. She ruled the day the moment she took the court in the day's first match on the Grandstand.

For perspective, consider the following: the Tokyo native was named the Most Improved Player on the women's tour in 1992.

She spent a brief period in the top ten and reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in 1994.

Date Krumm's last match in the U.S. Open's main draw was a loss in the first round in 1996.

Kuznetsova and Date Krumm had never faced each other before, for good reason. When Date Krumm was in her prime, the Russian dynamo was still years from adolescence.

Kimiko Date Krumm, who lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to Kuznetsova -- the No. 11 seed -- turns 40 years old on Sept. 28.

Phil Jackson Charles Woodson Shaq Derek Jeter