• Wimbledon, Day One

O'Brien toppled by Date-Krumm

ESPN staff
June 20, 2011

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Katie O'Brien's interest in the women's singles lasted a matter of 63 minutes as she was overwhelmed 6-0 7-5 by Kimiko Date-Krumm.

Japan's Date-Krumm may be in the veteran stage, having played in the event way back in 1991, but she had far too many guns for her British opponent.

The first set was a horror show for O'Brien, as she hit 13 unforced errors, including three double faults, and Date-Krumm raced through it to love.

The Brit regrouped in the second set and played some bright tennis. She traded blows with Date-Krumm and cut down the errors but the early ground she surrendered proved too much.

O'Brien did at least go down fighting, as she saved a match point with a superb passing shot. She held serve courtesy of another fine passing shot and then upped her play, hitting with venom from the back of the court, to break the Date-Krumm serve to level at 5-5.

However, just when she had forced her way back into the contest O'Brien surrendered her serve for a fourth time in the set. Date-Krumm was forced to serve out for a second and on this occasion the player who pushed the great Steffi Graf hard in 1996, held her nerve to claim the first win on the revamped No. 3 court.

Britain are guaranteed to have at least one women in the second round, but Anne Keothavong and Naomi Broady will have to wait until Tuesday to go head-to-head in the all-British battle.

Keothavong and Broady were due on Court 12 on Monday afternoon, but their match fell victim to the weather as heavy rain set in, causing havoc with the scheduling as 31 matches were cancelled by the organisers.

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