Date Krumm, 39, has a quarterfinal meeting with third-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer and there will be few secrets between the pair despite a 20-year age difference.
They have practised together and they also met competitively as recently as November, when Wickmayer won in straight sets in Bali before she found herself banned for one-year by the Flemish anti-doping tribunal.
The ban, for failing to follow drug-testing procedure, was suspended last month.
Date Krumm was preparing for a tough battle against Wickmayer, describing her opponent as a fighter.
However, while the Belgian had a big forehand, Date Krumm believed she could target her backhand with some angled shots and a bit slice.
"Younger players aren't used to hitting sliced balls," she said, pointing to their preference for power and top spin.
"So I'll try to use more backhand slice and go to the net more often. It will be my tactic, but we will see what happens."
Date Krumm set up the encounter with by scoring the biggest upset of the tournament so far, downing fifth-seeded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzaro 3-6 6-3 6-2.
As the world No 19, Razzaro is the highest ranked player Date Krumm has beaten since she came out of a 12-year retirement in April 2008.
Once ranked as high as No 4 and now at No 69, Date Krumm quit the professional circuit at 26.
It was her husband, German racing car driver Michael Krumm, whom she married eight years ago, who encouraged her to make a comeback.
She was granted a wildcard in Auckland last year, where she was beaten by American Jill Craybas in one of eight consecutive first-round exits on her return to the WTA Tour.
She finally broke that sequence at the Korea Open last September, before going all the way to claim the title, beating the top two seeds, Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues, along the way.
It was the eighth WTA Tour singles crown of her career and it came on the eve of her 39th birthday, making her the second oldest player to win an event after Billie Jean King.
While everyone talked about her age, it wasn't an issue that worried Date Krumm.
She said she felt less pressure to win than she did when she was younger and the enjoyment of playing was a large part of her tennis now.
Wickmayer said she had plenty of respect for Date Krumm and what she had achieved in her comeback.
"She's a great player, a great athlete and she has an awesome mentality," she said.
"It's great to have her back on tour and she's going to cause some surprises this year."
