After defeating seed No.12 Maria Sharapova in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, home favorite Kimiko Date Krumm, who turned 40 in the meantime, won her second round match when Daniela Hantuchova retired in the third set.

Date Krumm lost the first set against Hantuchova 6-2, but since then her fellow former Top 5 player lost ten straight games and retired with a right shoulder injury. The Japanese has become the first 40-year-old woman since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon 2004 to win a main draw match of a WTA tournament.

Date Krumm’s next test will be French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who defeated Alexandra Dulgheru 7-5 6-3 in the second round.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki progressed with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Greta Arn, as well as second seed Vera Zvonareva who defeated Sara Errani 6-3 6-3. No.4 seed Samantha Stosur and No.10 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova lost – the Australian to Julia Goerges 7-5 6-3, the Russian to Andrea Petkovic 6-3 7-5. Ana Ivanovic’s Tokyo happiness was short-lived and she fell to seed No.11 Marion Bartoli. (photo: sydney-yokochin)

Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova came to the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo fresh off her second career title in Seoul and lost in the very first round to none other than Ana Ivanovic who had a disappointing showing in Seoul the week before, losing in the first round.

The world No.38 Ivanovic had a pretty easy victory over Kleybanova, 6-3 6-2, and as I read she played very well "great serving, fantastic movement, and phenomenal hitting on her forehand side."

Unlike last week in Seoul where Ivanovic lost in the first round and Dinara Safina won, this time we had reverse situation and Safina fell to Julia Goerges 6-1 5-7 6-2. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Just a day shy of her 40th birthday Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan sent Maria Sharapova packing in the first round match featuring former champions at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

The 1995 Tokyo winner Date Krumm, a wild card this year, edged the first set 7-5, then lost three straight games in the second set and never recovered to lose it, while in the decider the home favorite managed to come back and even though twice Tokyo champion Sharapova had a 3-2, 40-0 lead, the momentum shifted to the veteran’s advantage who won 17 of 21 points since that moment. Final score: 7-5 3-6 6-3.

With this victory Date Krumm has scored five Top 20 wins in 2010, over Virginie Razzano, Nadia Petrova, Dinara Safina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and now world No.15 Sharapova, who was seeded 12th and defending her title at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

In the second round, the world No.67 Date Krumm will play Daniela Hantuchova, who advanced with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Angelique Kerber. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

World number one Serena Williams is still not able to play tournaments as she continues to recover from her foot injury sustained at a restaurant. Serena was supposed to return for the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, but it’s now official that that will not be the case. She hasn’t competed since winning Wimbledon in the beginning of July.

Scheduled to play the Toray Pan Pacific Open are Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva, French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, world No.2 Caroline Wozniacki and defending champion Maria Sharapova. (source: BBC, photo: brett marlow)

Maria Sharapova claimed her first title since April 2008 when Jelena Jankovic retired during the first set of their Toray Pan Pacific Open final.

The unseeded Russian, ranked 25th in the world, was leading 5-2 in the first set when the seventh-seeded Serb withdrew because of a right wrist injury.

The 2009 Toray Pan Pacific title is Sharapova’s first since her comeback from a shoulder injury in May. The Russian had been out for nine long months.

"To go from not knowing whether you'll ever play the sport again to holding a trophy, it's an unbelievable feeling," said the 22-year-old Grand Slam champion. (via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)