Date makes it a day to forget for Maria Sharapova

Defending champion Maria Sharapova lost to Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open today.

The 23-year-old Russian was broken in the eighth game of the final set in Tokyo to go down 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to a player who turns 40 tomorrow.

"I knew I had to play to the best of my ability if I was to beat a former world No1," said Date Krumm, who returned to competitive tennis in 2008 after a 12-year lay-off.

Sharapova broke her opponent to go up 3-2 in the final set and was leading 40love in the sixth game when she double faulted twice before being broken.

"Momentum is so big in tennis," said 12th seed Sharapova. "If you give your opponent a chance they can get confident and take the momentum."