JOIN USEighteen-year-old Elina Svitolina of Ukraine denied veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm a date with history when she overpowered the Japanese 6-2, 6-3 to lift the Indian Open, her maiden WTA title.
The summit clash was special for both the players as Svitolina was playing in her first-ever WTA final while 42-year-old Date-Krumm was attempting to break American legend Billie Jean King's record of becoming the oldest singles winner on the circuit. While Date-Krumm had the experience and the guile, Svitolina boasted of powerful ground strokes and a big serve and it was expected that the contrasting styles would make the summit clash an interesting affair. However, that was not to be.
It looked like Date-Krumm, who had to come through an engrossing semifinal against Tamarine Tanasugarn on Saturday, had not recovered enough for the final. Even Svitolina was a shadow of the player who had hammered pre-tournament favourite Andrea Petkovik of Germany.