Japanese Kimiko Date Krumm upset world No.8 Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals of the HP Open in Osaka and became the first 40-something women’s tennis player to defeat a Top 10 player. With this victory in her home country Date Krumm broke her own record set at the French Open earlier this year when she became the oldest woman ever to beat a Top 10 player with a win over Dinara Safina in the first round. Date Krumm was then 39 years, seven months and 26 days old.

Stosur was No.1 seed at the 2010 HP Open and was defending her title there, but despite winning the first set and saving a match point at 5-4 down in the third set, she lost the match in a tiebreaker. Final score: 5-7 6-3 7-6(4).

The world No.56 Date Krumm, seeded sixth, will next play third seed Shahar Peer who defeated Iveta Benesova 6-2 6-0 in the quarterfinals. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: sydney-yokochin)

Ana Ivanovic followed up her 6-2 6-0 victory over Sorana Cirstea in the first round with a 6-3 6-2 triumph over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova at the Generali Ladies Linz. The match will be remembered for an unusual incidenent that happened over a bathroom break – Ivanovic asked to go to the toilet and the umpire gave her the permission to do so, but when she came back to the court she found out she had lost a game because of the time spent away (one point for each 20-second absence, which was summed up to four points, which is one game). It was the second game of the match, Zahlavova Strycova’s service game. Ivanovic was angry at the umpire but it turned out that the umpire’s decision was legitimate as a player should use such a break only before their own serve and not their opponent’s serve.

In the other part of the world, at the tournament in Osaka, Japanese No.1 Kimiko Date Krumm advanced to the quarterfinals with a decisive 6-2 6-0 victory over good friend Aiko Nakamura. Date Krumm won all the games from 3-2 in the first set. The sixth-seeded Japanese will next play top seed Samantha Stosur, who is defending her title. It will be their first career meeting and Date Krumm’s seventh match against a Top 10 player – she won just one of the previous six but four of her five losses were three-setters. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

World No.8 Samantha Stosur won her first WTA singles title last year at the HP Open in Osaka and this year she won her first two matches with the score 6-0 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the $220,000 tournament.

The top-seeded Stosur defeated wildcard Sachie Ishizu in the first round and on Wednesday she beat another Japanese, Junri Namigata, firing three straight aces at one point in the match.

Stosur, who also won an ITF title in Osaka in 2001, is now 7-0 at the HP Open and will next face her third Japanese opponent in a row, either sixth seed Kimiko Daet Krumm or wildcard Aiko Nakamura. (photo: chascow)

World No.15 Samantha Stosur has been a strong competitor on the Tour – 22 doubles titles, a bunch of Top 10 wins, career high of No.1 in doubles and No.13 in singles – still, up to this day, there were no singles titles in her résumé.

At the HP Open in Osaka Stosur finally won a singles final, on her sixth attempt, defeating Francesca Schiavone 7-5 6-1. The third-seeded Stosur grabbed the first break of the match in the last game of the first set and confidently cruised through the second set. Schiavone, who was seeded fourth in Osaka, has now fallen to 1-10 in career finals.

Stosur didn’t lose a set en route to the semifinals, where she upset top seed and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki 6-0 4-6 6-4. (via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Third seed Samantha Stosur edged defending champion and top seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-0 4-6 6-4 to advance to the HP Open final where she will face fourth seed Francesca Schiavone, who beat Sania Mirza 6-2 6-1 in the semifinals in just 59 minutes.

The world No.15 Stosur has earned her sixth shot to win her first WTA Tour singles title, and it’s not that Schiavone’s record is any better – the Italian is 1-9 in WTA Tour singles finals (her lone title came in the Gastein Ladies in 2007). However, both Stosur and Schiavone have plenty of doubles titles - Stosur has 22, Schiavone has 7.

Stosur won the last three matches played against Schiavone, all in straight sets, and two of those three came this year. (photos via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)