Schiavone halts Date Krumm's Tokyo run

By Alastair Himmer

TOKYO (Reuters) - French Open champion Francesca Schiavone ended 40-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm's dream run at the Pan Pacific Open with a 6-3 6-3 third round victory on Wednesday.

The Italian fifth seed had too much firepower for Japan's Date Krumm, comfortably advancing to the quarter-finals of the $2 million Tokyo event.

"Every point was close," Schiavone told reporters. "Every game was close and there were a lot of deuces. It was only when I broke for 4-3 in the second that I knew I could win."

Date Krumm, champion in 1995, blamed fatigue for her flat performance after knocking out Daniela Hantuchova and defending champion Maria Sharapova.

"I felt a little tired this morning," said the former world number four, who celebrated her birthday by beating Hantuchova on Tuesday.

"She used a lot of spin and was making me run very wide. I tried to keep my feet moving but she just wore me down. Mentally she is so tough. She played almost perfect today."

Date Krumm quit tennis in 1996 before coming out of retirement in 2008. This year, she became the oldest woman to beat a top 10 player by knocking Dinara Safina out of the French Open.

In other matches, Danish top seed Caroline Wozniacki edged closer to seizing the number one ranking with a 6-1 6-2 thrashing of Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

"I feel like I'm playing good tennis," said Wozniacki, who plays sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland next. "Today was a tough match even though the score was (tight).

"I really had to be focused. Anastasia is a dangerous player."

Second seed Vera Zvonareva outmuscled Italian Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-0 to set up a quarter-final against fellow Russian Elena Dementieva, who beat Italy's Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-2.

(Editing by John O'Brien)