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

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.

There is a slight hesitance to make a big deal of Date Krumm's achievement; at age 39, she recently cracked the top 50 and became the oldest woman since Billie Jean King in the 1980s to win a WTA event when she won the Korea Open last year. But it's a story that deserves to be told, win or lose. Certainly, for the many casual observers in the Grandstand seats who watched the match for one hour and 56 minutes, Krumm looked and moved just like any of the twentysomethings on the tour. One ticket-holder dropped her Evian bottle when she learned Date Krumm was from her generation.

After the match, Kuznetsova offered complete admiration for her opponent. "She was hard to play against," said the No. 13 player in the world. "She plays a different game than anybody I've ever played before. I know Dinara (Safina) has lost to her twice. She's uncomfortable to play against."

Kuznetsova said she tried not to think about her opponent's age. "It could get in my head," she said. "I have much respect for her to come back and play at the highest level."

Date Krumm, who is married to German race car driver Michael Krumm, retired as a player at age 25 in 1996. Putting her relaxed schedule to honorable use, she helped fund the building of a school in Laos. After playing well in exhibitions in Japan against Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova in 2007, she contemplated a return to the court. She made her comeback in April of 2008, winning three singles and two doubles titles on the ITF circuit. At the Open, perhaps only Kuznetsova's overpowering serve got in the way of an upset, and a story, for the ages.

The 25-year-old Kuznetsova was asked if she could envision herself playing at 39 like Date Krumm.

"I have much respect for her," the Russian said, "but I hope I will be home. I love tennis a lot and do not want to stop when I'm young, like she did. I want to play a few more years, do my best and go home. I love home too much."