At the age of 44, Japanese tennis player Kimiko Date-Krumm came from behind to score an upset victory over Germany's Sabine Lisicki at the Stanford WTA tournament on Tuesday, registering her first WTA main-draw win of the year.
It was just the second main-draw win for the Japanese in the past twelve months.
Date-Krumm, who was forced to qualify for the main draw, looked to be heading to a rapid defeat after Lisicki whizzed through the first set, winning 6-1.
But the ageless Japanese fought back brilliantly to clinch a second set tie-break before wrapping up the decider to seal a 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 triumph. She will next play Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round. Tomljanovic defeated Vitalia Diatchenko 3-6, 6-0, 6-0 to advance.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, both seeded players in action advanced safely, with eighth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina beating compatriot Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. German fifth seed Angelique Kerber, meanwhile, had little difficulty in dispatching Russia's Daria Gavrilova, winning 6-1, 6-3.
{{/usCountry}}Elsewhere on Tuesday, both seeded players in action advanced safely, with eighth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina beating compatriot Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. German fifth seed Angelique Kerber, meanwhile, had little difficulty in dispatching Russia's Daria Gavrilova, winning 6-1, 6-3.
{{/usCountry}}The field for this year's Stanford tournament was weakened on the eve of the event when world number one Serena Williams withdrew with an elbow injury as she builds towards her tilt at a calendar Grand Slam at the US Open. With Williams out, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki is top seed.
Wozniacki, who received a bye in the first round, will play America's Varvara Lepchenko in her first match. Lepchenko outlasted Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) to advance to the second round.