Kimiko Date

Kimiko Date (伊達 公子, Date Kimiko, born 28 September 1970) is a Japanese former top-five professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals of the 1994 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, and won the Japan Open a record four times. She reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in 1995, and retired from professional tennis in November 1996.

Kimiko Date
伊達 公子

Date-Krumm in 2010
Country (sports)	Japan
Residence	Tokyo
Born	(1970-09-28) 28 September 1970 Kyoto
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	March 1989
Retired	1) 1996–2008; 2) 12 September 2017
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand), born left-handed
Prize money	$3,988,378
Singles
Career record	450–268
Career titles	8 WTA, 14 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 4 (13 November 1995)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	SF (1994)
French Open	SF (1995)
Wimbledon	SF (1996)
US Open	QF (1993, 1994)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (1994)
Olympic Games	QF (1996)
Doubles
Career record	184–142
Career titles	6 WTA, 7 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 28 (19 January 2015)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (1992)
French Open	2R (1993, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015)
Wimbledon	3R (2011)
US Open	SF (2014)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (1992)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	SF (1996)
Medal record Women's tennis Representing  Japan Asian Games 1994 Hiroshima Singles 2010 Guangzhou Singles

She returned to tennis nearly 12 years later, announcing an unexpected comeback in April 2008. She then won her eighth WTA title at the 2009 Korea Open, becoming the second-oldest player in the Open Era, after Billie Jean King, to win a singles title on the WTA Tour.[1] In 2013, she won three WTA-tour titles in doubles and at the 2014 US Open, aged 43, she reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam doubles tournament for the first time in her career. Date announced her final retirement in September 2017.

Professional career

1989-1996

Date began 1990 by reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open, where she was defeated by fourth seed Helena Suková. The following year, ranked world no. 112, she was runner-up in Los Angeles, defeating world no. 3 Gabriela Sabatini before losing to Monica Seles in the final.

In 1992, Date defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the Toray Pan Pacific Open and reached the semifinals. She also won the Japan Open, reached the semifinals in the Mizuno World Ladies Open and reached the fourth round at Roland Garros. Date participated in the Barcelona Olympics, losing in the second round. At the end of the year, she received the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award.

Date won the Japan Open again in 1993. She was runner-up in the Asia Women's Open and the Nichiray Ladies Cup. She reached the semifinals in the Lipton Championships defeating Mary Joe Fernández. In the US Open, she reached the quarterfinals beating Jana Novotná in the fourth round.

In 1994, Date won the Sydney International in January, defeating world no. 4 Conchita Martinez and Mary Joe Fernandez on her way to the title, after which she entered the world's top 10 for the first time. She beat Martinez again the following week at the Australian Open on the way to her first grand slam semifinal. Date won her third consecutive Japan Open. At the 1994 Asian Games, she won Gold in the women's singles. At the end-of-year WTA Finals|, she defeated Martinez again, before losing to eventual champion Sabatini in the semifinals in three sets.

Date won her first, and only, top tier tournament at the Pan Pacific Open in 1995, defeating Martinez and Lindsay Davenport to the title. She was also runner-up in the tier one Miami Open, defeating Sabatini before losing to Graf in straight sets. Date defeated Davenport again on her way to the semifinals of the French Open, reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, and was runner-up in Tokyo and Strasbourg, reaching a career high ranking of no. 4 in November 1995.

In 1996, Date won both singles and doubles in the Japan Open. In the Fed Cup, she defeated world no. 1 Graf for the first and only time, winning 7-6, 3-6, 12–10. At Wimbledon, she beat world no. 2 Conchita Martinez in the fourth round and Mary Pierce in the quarterfinal, before losing to eventual champion Graf in the semifinals in three sets. Date defeated Martinez in the semifinals and world no. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the finals of San Diego. and reached the quarterfinals in the 1996 Summer Olympics. Date announced her retirement - aged 25 - in September, and played her final match at the end-of-year WTA Finals, losing to Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals.[2]

2008: Comeback

On 6 April 2008, nearly 12 years after retiring, Date announced she would return to the professional tour at the age of 37.[3]

She qualified for the 50k Kangaroo Cup in Gifu, Japan. In the first round, she played compatriot and world No. 183 Rika Fujiwara. In only her fourth match on the tour for eleven years, Date won in three sets. At the quarterfinal stage, Date came up against world No. 80 and fellow Japanese Aiko Nakamura, whom she beat 7–6, 4–6, 6–3. This marked her first top-100 win of her comeback. In her semifinal match, she defeated No. 3 seed Melanie South 7–6, 6–3. However, in the final, she was defeated by Tamarine Tanasugarn in three sets. She won the doubles title at that tournament with teenage and fellow Japanese partner Kurumi Nara, defeating Melanie South and Nicole Thijssen in a match tie-breaker, 6–1, 6–7, [10–7].

Date in 2008

Her next event was another 50k event in Fukuoka, Japan. She defeated both Nicole Kriz and Rika Fujiwara to reach the quarterfinals where she lost to Aiko Nakamura in straight sets, 2–6, 2–6. She then defeated Shiho Hisamatsu and Zhou Yimiao to reach the quarterfinals where she lost to Tomoko Yonemura in straight sets, in another tournament in Japan, a 50k event in Kurume. On 15 June 2008, she defeated Shiho Akita 6–3, 6–2 to win the Tokyo Ariake International Ladies Open for her first post-comeback championship. Her second post-comeback championship came over a month after, as on 20 July, she won a 25k event in Miyazaki, Japan, defeating Chae Kyung-yee in the final. On 3 August, she won the 25k event in Obihiro, Japan. In the final, she beat Suchanun Viratprasert.

Date made her WTA Tour comeback at the Tier-I event in Tokyo where she has been awarded a wildcard into the qualifying tournament. She won through to the final round of qualifying after defeating Mari Tanaka of Japan and Australian Casey Dellacqua (the fifth seed in the qualifying competition). Both of these victories came in tight three-set matches. She lost in the final round to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada in straight sets, 1–6, 1–6. Along with fellow Japanese Fujiwara, Date also competed in doubles, as wildcard entrant. However, they lost in three tight sets in the first round. Date was in the main draw for the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships but lost in the first round to Shahar Pe'er.

Date holding the trophy at the Tokyo International Ladies Open in 2008

In October, she played her first tournament out of Japan since November 1996, in the quarterfinals at the OEC Taipei Ladies Open. In November, she competed at the All-Japan Tennis Championship, her first appearance there in 16 years. Date won both the singles and doubles titles.

2009

Date received a wildcard entrant to the main draw of the ASB Classic in Auckland, where she was overpowered by Jill Craybas in the first round. Later in January, Date qualified for the Australian Open and met Kaia Kanepi in the first round, where she lost a close match, battling a tough three-setter before losing 4–6, 6–4, 6–8.[4]

Date then played in the main draw of the international event in Pattaya City. In the first round, she was defeated by the eighth-seeded Slovak Magdaléna Rybáriková in three sets. She then reached the quarterfinals of an ITF event in Clearwater, Florida, beating Lauren Embree of the US and fellow Japanese player Aiko Nakamura before losing to third-seeded Slovak Jarmila Groth in three sets. She then played at a $25k event in Hammond, Louisiana where she breezed past qualifier Heidi El Tabakh 6–2, 6–0. She then beat American Lauren Albanese in the round of 16 for a place in the quarterfinals where she lost to qualifier Lindsay Lee-Waters in three sets. Date moved onto the $75k in Monzón, Spain, her first European event since July 1996. Seeded sixth, victories over Spaniard Eva Fernandez-Bruges and Croat Ana Vrljić took her to the quarterfinals. There she beat British top seed Elena Baltacha 5–7, 6–4, 7–6. She followed that win by beating Arantxa Parra Santonja 6–4, 7–5 to reach the final, and she earned a two-set-victory over Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru to claim the biggest title of her comeback that far.[5]

Date was awarded a wild-card entry to the Wimbledon Championships. This was her first competition at Wimbledon in 13 years. In the first round she lost to ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 3–6, 1–6 with her performance in the second and third sets diminished due to an injury.

In the Guangzhou International Open, Date, partnering Sun Tiantian, reached her first WTA Tour final since she had come back to the tour, but lost in a tight match.

At the Korea Open in Seoul, Date won her first WTA level match after the return, against Lee Ye-ra, and came up with a second victory right after over Alisa Kleybanova, coming back from a set and 5–2 down. In the quarterfinals, Kimiko defeated top seed Daniela Hantuchová in three sets lasting over two and a half hours. Date-Krumm prevailed with the score 7–6, 4–6, 6–4. In the semifinals, she defeated defending champion Maria Kirilenko 3–6, 6–2, 6–4. In the final, which was held one day before her 39th birthday, Date-Krumm defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues to win her first WTA Tour title since her comeback. Thus, she became the second-oldest player in the open era to win a singles title on the tour, after Billie Jean King, who won Birmingham in 1983, aged 39 years, 7 months and 23 days.

Date-Krumm then received a wildcard to play at the inaugural Tournament of Champions, the year-end championship, held in Bali, Indonesia. She was in Group C, along with Yanina Wickmayer and Anabel Medina Garrigues. She lost her first match against Wickmayer by a close 6–7, 2–6, but she won her second match against Medina Garrigues 6–4, 6–3. Due to Wickmayer's ban from the sport for one year, Date-Krumm made the semifinals but lost to top seed Marion Bartoli.

2010

Date-Krumm started 2010 with participation at the ASB Classic in Auckland where she received a wildcard to enter the maindraw. She beat former world No. 5 Anna Chakvetadze in the first round by 6–1, 6–2, and then recovered from a set down to beat fifth seed Virginie Razzano 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 for her first win over a top-20 player after her comeback.[6] In the quarterfinals Date-Krumm was beaten 6–2, 6–2 by the third seed and eventual champion Yanina Wickmayer. Date-Krumm then qualified for Medibank International Sydney, a Premier tournament. In the opening round she defeated Nadia Petrova 6–3, 5–7, 6–4 for her second top-20 victory of 2010.[7] In the second round, Date-Krumm came close to claiming her first top-10 win since 1996 when she pushed world No. 7 Victoria Azarenka 1–6, 7–5, 5–7 having at one stage trailed 1–6, 2–4.[8] Date-Krumm competed at the Australian Open in Melbourne, the first time since her comeback that she has had direct acceptance into a Grand Slam main draw. In the first round, she fell to Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets.

In February, Date-Krumm played for Japan's Fed Cup team for the first time since 1996. By winning all of her four matches, she was instrumental in securing her team's advance to the World Group II play-offs. At the PTT Pattaya Open in Thailand, Date-Krumm was seeded seventh but fell to Anastasia Rodionova in the first round.

Date-Krumm defeated Melinda Czink in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells before falling to No. 15 seed Francesca Schiavone 6–3, 6–4 in the second. She also made it to the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami by defeating former top-10 player Anna Chakvetadze 7–5, 3–6, 6–4. Date-Krumm then lost to No. 16 seed Nadia Petrova 3–6, 6–7.

Date-Krumm began her clay-court season at the Estoril Open in Portugal. In the first round, she outlasted 19-year-old Petra Martić, defeating her in 3 hours and 12 minutes 6–7, 7–5, 7–6. Date-Krumm played Anastasija Sevastova (who ousted top seed Ágnes Szávay in the first round) in the second round, but retired due to a recurring calf injury.

At the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, the French Open, she defeated No. 9 seed and former world No. 1, 2009 runner-up Dinara Safina in the first round 3–6, 6–4, 7–5, despite being 2–4 down in the second set and two breaks down at 1–4 in the third, plus having an apparent calf injury. This was her first win in a grandslam's main draw since 1997 and at 39y/7m/26d, she became the oldest player ever to beat a top-10 player (previous-oldest was Billie Jean King at 39y/6m/29d). She was defeated by wildcard Jarmila Groth 6–0, 6–3 in the second round. In Stanford, Date-Krumm again defeated Safina 4–6, 7–6, 6–2 in the first round, after trailing by a set and 2–0. Following the conclusion of the US Open series, Date-Krumm, ranked No. 50, became the oldest top-50 player since Billie Jean King in 1984.

At the US Open, Date-Krumm received direct entry into the main draw but lost to two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round 2–6, 6–4, 1–6. She then traveled to Seoul to defend her title at the Korea Open but lost in the quarterfinals to Ágnes Szávay. One week later, she accepted wildcard entry at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She beat the defending champion and former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the first round 7–5, 3–6, 6–3. She then faced Daniela Hantuchová in the second round and won 2–6, 6–0, 4–0, as Hantuchová retired. This was on her 40th birthday. She then lost to French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the third round 6–3, 6–3. Later on that same week, she went to China to participate at the China Open. She beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–0, 6–4 in the first round, but lost to Elena Dementieva 6–3, 1–6, 6–3 in the second round. Kimiko then returned home to compete at the HP Open in Osaka, Japan. Seeded sixth, she defeated teenage qualifier Laura Robson in the first round 6–3, 6–3 and compatriot Aiko Nakamura 6–2, 6–0. In the quarterfinals, she upset top seed and world No. 8 Samantha Stosur 5–7, 6–3, 7–6 (becoming the first 40-something player to win a match against a top-10 player[9]) to book a semifinal encounter with third seed Shahar Pe'er. She beat Shahar Pe'er 3–6, 7–6, 7–5 but lost the final match to unseeded Tanasugarn 5–7, 7–6, 1–6. With that reaching of the final in Osaka, she once again entered the top-50 WTA rankings at No. 48. Also, this final in Osaka had the oldest combined age of WTA tournament finalists at 73 (Date-Krumm 40, Tanasugarn 33).

Date-Krumm then received a wildcard to enter the Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia for the second time in a row. Despite at one point having her serve broken seven consecutive times, she defeated first seeded, Li Na in the quarterfinals by 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 after being down 1–3 in the third set. She lost to Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals 5–7, 7–6, 2–6, but won the third place match against Daniela Hantuchová by the scoreline of 7–5, 7–5. With that performance in Bali, she was once again in the top 50s, moving up to No. 46, but falling back to finish the year at No. 51.

Date-Krumm's last activity of 2010 was participation in the Asian Games, where she won a bronze medal in singles and with Japan in the team competition.

2011

Date in 2011

Date-Krumm's first two tournaments of 2011 were in the ASB Classic and Hobart International.[10][11] She would go on to lose in both first rounds to Kateryna Bondarenko 6–4, 6–3 then Angelique Kerber 7–5, 7–6 the following week. Date-Krumm's next tournament was the Australian Open where she lost a close encounter 4–6, 6–4, 5–7 to 12th seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round. Date-Krumm held a 4–1 lead in the final set when her opponent called a medical time out. When play resumed, she suffered from cramps and found it hard to move losing six of the final seven games after the rhythm of the match had been interrupted as she stated in her post match interview . Date-Krumm earned her first victory of the 2011 season at the Pattaya Open, defeating Renata Voráčová 6–2, 6–2. At the BNP Paribas Open Date-Krumm gained direct entry into the tournament. In the first round she defeated Yaroslava Shvedova, in straight sets, but lost to Ana Ivanovic in the second round. She then also reached the second round of Sony Ericsson Open but again lost to Ivanovic in straight sets.

Date-Krumm then suffered four consecutive losses in her clay-court campaign, in Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, and Strasbourg. In the French Open she lost in straight sets in the first round to world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. She started out the grass season with a surprise doubles championship with Zhang Shuai in the Nottingham ITF tournament. But her singles losing streak continued, as she lost in the first round of Birmingham to eventual champion Sabine Lisicki. The week after, she ended her seven consecutive losses in 's-Hertogenbosch where she defeated sixth-seeded Maria Kirilenko 7–6, 6–2 in the first round and Lourdes Domínguez Lino 7–6, 6–0 in the second round. In her first quarterfinals appearance in 2011, she lost to Romina Oprandi 6–7, 4–6.

Date-Krumm then appeared at Wimbledon, where she defeated British wild card Katie O'Brien, 6–0, 7–5.[12] This win also marked her first main draw victory at Wimbledon in fifteen years. In the second round, after winning the opening set, Date-Krumm lost a close-fought match on Centre Court to former world number one and 23rd seed Venus Williams 7–6, 3–6, 6–8 in a match lasting 2 hours, 56 minutes.[13] With her partner Zhang Shuai, Date-Krumm advanced to the third round of the women's doubles at Wimbledon for the first time in her career.

After qualifying for the Western & Southern Open, Date-Krumm had an accident falling in the bathtub and injuring her left hand, forcing her out of competition for four to six weeks,[14] requiring her to pull out of the tournament and not playing competitively until losing in the first round of the US Open to Sílvia Soler Espinosa 6–7, 6–7.

At the HP Open, Date-Krumm again teamed with Zhang Shuai and defeated Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova 7–5, 3–6, [11–9] in the doubles final to win her first WTA level doubles title since 1996. Date-Krumm then flew to Europe to participate at the BGL Luxembourg Open but lost in the first round. At this point, her ranking fell to world No. 144.

Post to that loss, Date-Krumm had good runs participating at three higher-tier tournaments in the ITF Circuit. She came in victorious in Poitiers and placed runner-up in both Taipei and Toyota. Her good runs in the circuit brought her ranking back to within the top 100; she finished 2011 ranked 87th in the world, her third successive top-100 finish since her 2008 comeback.

2012

Date-Krumm started her year participating at a 50k+H event in Quanzhou, China as the first seed in both singles and doubles. She came in victorious in singles, winning the title by beating Tímea Babos 6–3, 6–3 in the final; and finished as the runner up in doubles, partnering with Zhang Shuai, to Chan Hao-ching and Rika Fujiwara 6–4, 4–6, [7–10].

At the Australian Open Date-Krumm lost in the first round to Eleni Daniilidou 3–6, 2–6 in singles, and with Zhang Shuai, lost in the first round in doubles to 14th seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Galina Voskoboeva 2–6, 1–6. However, she and Kei Nishikori received a wild-card entry into the mixed doubles draw and, in her first ever Grand Slam mixed-doubles match, defeated the team of Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank 6–4, 6–1 to advance to the round of 16.

Then, Date-Krumm earned her first WTA main draw victory of the season in Pattaya by reaching the second-round where she lost to Hsieh Su-wei. She lost in the first round of Monterrey and reached the second round of Indian Wells where she lost to Vera Zvonareva. In the first round of Miami, she faced former world No. 1 Venus Williams for the second time. She lost 0–6, 3–6. After consecutive losses in Charleston and Copenhagen, she played at a 50,000 event in Gifu, Japan as the first seed. She eventually won the title after defeating Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 6–1, 5–7, 6–3 in the final. She then lost first round 7–6, 3–2 at ITF Cagnes-Sur-Mer when she had to retire against Anastasiya Yakimova. Following this, she made the quarterfinals of ITF Prague losing to No. 2 seed Klára Zakopalová 6–2, 0–6, 4–6. Date-Krumm then lost in the first found of ten consecutive tournaments all of which were WTA or Grand Slam events except for ITF Nottingham. Nevertheless, she finished the year strong. She made the quarterfinals of ITF Limoges losing to Stefanie Vögele 6–2, 4–6, 4–6. She then lost narrowly (as defending champion) in the first round of ITF Poitiers 6–3, 6–7, 4–6 to Elena Vesnina. She then made the quarterfinals of WTA Taipei losing to Kristina Mladenovic 3–6, 0–6. From here, Date-Krumm caught fire making the finals of each of her next three tournaments. She lost to Elina Svitolina at the WTA Pune final 2–6, 3–6, and to Stefanie Vögele 6–7, 4–6 at the ITF Toyota final. She then won ITF Al Habtoor (Dubai) beating Yulia Putintseva 6–1, 3–6, 6–4. This was her last tournament of the year. She ended the calendar year ranked 99 on 31 December 2012 (not to be confused with the WTA's 'Year-end ranking' which is determined prior to this date), securing a berth in the upcoming 2013 Australian Open, and finishing in the top 100 for a fourth consecutive calendar year (and 10th overall).

2013

Date-Krumm playing doubles with Scheepers at 2013 Rogers Cup in Toronto

Date-Krumm started the year narrowly losing to Duan Yingying in the first round of WTA Shenzhen 6–7, 5–7 after going through qualifying. She then went through qualifying in Sydney and lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the round of 16 by 4–6, 3–6. At the Australian Open, Date-Krumm won a singles match in this tournament for the first time since 1996, defeating No. 12 seed Nadia Petrova in straight sets, and becoming the oldest woman to ever win a main draw singles match in the Australian Open.[15] She beat Shahar Pe'er in the second round, but then lost to Serbian Bojana Jovanovski. She went on to lose in the second round of Pattaya City to Ayumi Morita 6–4, 4–6, 1–6. After a string of losses in Fed Cup and Florianópolis she made the second round of Indian Wells pushing Elena Vesnina to three sets losing 6–3, 5–7, 1–6. She made the second round of Miami losing to Venus Williams 6–7, 6–3, 4–6. She retired in her first- and second-round matches at Monterrey and ITF Gifu.

Date-Krumm skipped most of the clay-court season choosing only to participate in one warm-up tournament prior to the French Open. At Strasburg, she picked up a sixth WTA doubles title partnering with Chanelle Scheepers. She began the grass-court season in Birmingham losing first round to Alla Kudryavtseva 4–6, 6–7. At Wimbledon, she became the oldest woman ever to reach the third round, losing to Serena Williams 2–6, 0–6.

She lost in the quarterfinals of ITF Vancouver and in qualifying at Cincinnati. She lost in the first round of the US Open to Paula Ormaechea 3–6, 6–7. She lost in the quarterfinals of Seoul to Francesca Schiavone 6–4, 4–6, 4–6 after beating second seed (and then 19th ranked) Maria Kirilenko in the second round 6–3, 6–1. Her WTA 'Year-end ranking' was 54th, but finished the calendar year ranked 75th due to losses in qualifying and early rounds of Tokyo, Beijing, Osaka, Nanjing, and Taipei near the end of the year. This was the fifth consecutive calendar year she finished in the top 100 (and 11th overall).

2014: Grand Slam doubles semifinal

Date-Krumm with Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in 2014

In the round of 16 at Brisbane International, Date-Krumm pushed Dominika Cibulková (who would become a 2014 Australian Open finalist) to three sets, losing 6–3, 1–6, 6–3. After qualifying and first round losses at Sydney and the Australian Open, she lost in the quarterfinals of Pattaya City to Ekaterina Makarova in three sets. She lost in qualifying and early rounds of Acapulco, Indian Wells, and Miami. She made the semifinals of Monterrey losing to Jovana Jakšić 7–6, 4–6, 4–6. She lost in early rounds of Kuala Lumpur, and Seoul. She then lost in the first round of the French Open to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3–6, 6–0, 2–6. She made the quarterfinals of Birmingham losing to Casey Dellaqua 1–6, 0–6. She lost first round of Wimbledon to eventual quarterfinalist Ekaterina Makarova 6–3, 4–6, 5–7. She lost early in Stanford, Montréal, and Cincinnati. She lost in the first round of the US Open to Venus Williams 2–6, 6–3, 6–3, but made the semifinals of doubles with Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová. She retired from her second-round match in Hong Kong losing to Francesca Schiavone. She then lost first round in Tokyo to Victoria Azarenka 3–6, 6–0, 6–2. In October, she matched her then career-high doubles ranking of 33. She would go on to reach a new career high of 28 in doubles early the following year.[16]

2016

Date played just one match in 2016, at the Australian Open, where she lost 2–6, 7–6, 4–6 to Amandine Hesse. Shortly after the tournament, she announced that she would be undergoing surgery on her left knee, after an MRI scan revealed that a crack in the knee had become a rupture. It was also reported that her meniscus was badly worn out.[17]

2017

Date rejected the assumption that she would retire after her injury,[18] stating "I didn’t want to just quit because I was hurt. I used it as motivation." At 46 years of age, Date played her first match in over a year at the Kangaroo Cup. Awarded a wildcard entry into the main draw, she lost to eventual runner-up Zhu Lin 2–6, 2–6. She then won three qualifying matches for a tournament in Changwon, but lost in the first round to Park So-hyun. Her next match was not until several months later, in July, at the Stockton Challenger event; she was again defeated in the first round, losing 6–4, 3–6, 0–6 to Usue Maitane Arconada.

Date announced that she would retire after the 2017 Japan Women's Open, saying that she had been troubled with ongoing knee and shoulder pain. In the first round, she was defeated 6–0, 6–0 by Aleksandra Krunić.[19]

Playing style

Date played with short backswings on both forehand and backhand sides. Date's playstyle is representative of those that dominated during her first career in the 1990s using less topspin in favour of a flatter shot. She is considered to possess the most notable "pancake" forehand in the women's game, with one of the lowest average spin RPM ever. She relies on her opponent's power to hit sharp angles and catch her opponents off-guard.

Since her comeback, Date played the best on grass, and her style was once described as "all stealthy, neat athleticism".[20]

Personal life

Date was born in Kyoto, Japan. Her father is Juichi (died in 2007) and her mother is Masako. She has two siblings: Ryusuke and Junko.[21] Date first played tennis at the age of six.[21] She is left-handed, but was trained to play right-handed to follow Japanese custom.[21] She was the tennis champion at Sonoda Gakuen Junior High School & Senior High School, where she graduated in 1989.

From December 2001 to September 2016, she was married to the German motor racing driver Michael Krumm, and competed under the name Kimiko Date-Krumm.[22]

She currently owns and runs a German bakery in Tokyo named Frau Krumm.[23]

In October 2017, she was included on the BBC's annual 100 Women list.[24]

WTA career finals

Singles: 15 (8 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (1–1)
Tier II / Premier (2–2)
Tier III, IV & V / International (5–4)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	Aug 1991	LA Women's Tennis Championships, Manhattan Beach	Hard	Monica Seles	3–6, 2–6
Winner	1.	Apr 1992	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Sabine Appelmans	7–5, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	2.	Feb 1993	Asian Open, Osaka	Carpet (i)	Jana Novotná	3–6, 2–6
Winner	2.	Apr 1993	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Stephanie Rottier	6–1, 6–3
Runner-up	3.	Sep 1993	Nichirei International Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Amanda Coetzer	3–6, 2–6
Winner	3.	Jan 1994	Medibank International Sydney, Australia	Hard	Mary Joe Fernández	6–4, 6–2
Winner	4.	Apr 1994	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Amy Frazier	7–5, 6–0
Winner	5.	Jan 1995	Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	6–1, 6–2
Runner-up	4.	Mar 1995	Miami Masters, Key Biscayne	Hard	Steffi Graf	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	Apr 1995	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Amy Frazier	6–7^(5–7), 5–7
Runner-up	6.	May 1995	Internationaux de Strasbourg, France	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	6–3, 1–6, 2–6
Winner	6.	Apr 1996	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Amy Frazier	6–4, 7–5
Winner	7.	Aug 1996	San Diego Open, United States	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	3–6, 6–3, 6–0
Winner	8.	Sep 2009	Hansol Korea Open, Seoul	Hard	Anabel Medina Garrigues	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	7.	Oct 2010	HP Open, Osaka, Japan	Hard	Tamarine Tanasugarn	5–7, 7–6^(7–4), 1–6

Doubles: 10 (6 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier II / Premier (0–0)
Tier III, IV & V / International (6–4)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	Apr 1992	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Stephanie Rehe	Amy Frazier Rika Hiraki	7–5, 6–7^(5–7), 0–6
Winner	1.	Apr 1996	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Ai Sugiyama	Amy Frazier Kimberly Po	7–6^(8–6), 6–7^(6–8), 6–3
Runner-up	2.	Sep 2009	Guangzhou International Women's Open, China	Hard	Sun Tiantian	Olga Govortsova Tatiana Poutchek	6–3, 2–6, [8–10]
Winner	2.	Oct 2011	HP Open, Osaka, Japan	Hard	Zhang Shuai	Vania King Yaroslava Shvedova	7–5, 3–6, [11–9]
Runner-up	3.	Feb 2012	Monterrey Open, Mexico	Hard	Zhang Shuai	Sara Errani Roberta Vinci	2–6, 6–7^(6–8)
Winner	3.	Apr 2012	e-Boks Open, Copenhagen	Hard (i)	Rika Fujiwara	Sofia Arvidsson Kaia Kanepi	6–2, 4–6, [10–5]
Runner-up	4.	Oct 2012	HP Open, Osaka	Hard	Heather Watson	Raquel Kops-Jones Abigail Spears	1–6, 4–6
Winner	4.	Feb 2013	PTT Pattaya Open, Thailand	Hard	Casey Dellacqua	Akgul Amanmuradova Alexandra Panova	6–3, 6–2
Winner	5.	Apr 2013	Monterrey Open, Mexico	Hard	Tímea Babos	Eva Birnerová Tamarine Tanasugarn	6–1, 6–4
Winner	6.	May 2013	Internationaux de Strasbourg, France	Clay	Chanelle Scheepers	Cara Black Marina Erakovic	6–4, 3–6, [14–12]

WTA 125K series finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	11 November 2012	Royal Indian Open, Pune	Hard	Elina Svitolina	2–6, 3–6

ITF finals

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles (14–5)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	7 November 1988	Matsuyama, Japan	Hard	Maya Kidowaki	6–3, 6–4
Winner	2.	14 November 1988	Kyoto, Japan	Hard	Maya Kidowaki	7–5, 4–6, 6–4
Winner	3.	24 April 1989	Sutton, United Kingdom	Clay	Samantha Smith	6–2, 6–1
Winner	4.	8 May 1989	Lee-on-the-Solent, United Kingdom	Clay	Andrea Noszály	6–4, 6–0
Winner	5.	15 May 1989	London, United Kingdom	Clay	Caroline Vis	6–3, 6–0
Runner-up	1.	4 May 2008	Gifu, Japan	Carpet	Tamarine Tanasugarn	6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Winner	6.	15 June 2008	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Shiho Akita	6–3, 6–2
Winner	7.	20 July 2008	Miyazaki, Japan	Carpet	Chae Kyung-yee	6–3, 6–2
Winner	8.	5 August 2008	Obihiro, Japan	Carpet	Suchanun Viratprasert	6–3, 7–6^(7–5)
Winner	9.	11 April 2009	Monzon, Spain	Hard	Alexandra Dulgheru	7–5, 6–2
Winner	10.	19 November 2009	Toyota, Japan	Carpet	Bojana Jovanovski	7–5, 6–2
Winner	11.	30 October 2011	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Elena Baltacha	7–6^(7–3), 6–4
Runner-up	2.	6 November 2011	Taipei, Taiwan	Hard (i)	Ayumi Morita	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	3.	22 November 2011	Toyota, Japan	Carpet (i)	Tamarine Tanasugarn	2–6, 5–7
Winner	12.	8 January 2012	Quanzhou, China	Hard	Tímea Babos	6–3, 6–3
Winner	13.	6 May 2012	Gifu, Japan	Hard	Noppawan Lertcheewakarn	6–1, 5–7, 6–3
Runner-up	4.	25 November 2012	Toyota, Japan	Carpet (i)	Stefanie Vögele	6–7^(3–7), 4–6
Winner	14.	1 December 2012	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Yulia Putintseva	6–1, 3–6, 6–4
Runner-up	5.	16 November 2014	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Alexandra Dulgheru	3–6, 4–6

Doubles (7–7)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	24 October 1988	Ibaraki, Japan	Hard	Yuko Hosoki	Maya Kidowaki Paulette Moreno	6–4, 4–6, 9–7
Runner-up	2.	31 October 1988	Saga, Japan	Grass	Yuko Hosoki	Maya Kidowaki Naoko Sato	4–6, 5–7
Winner	3.	7 November 1988	Matsuyama, Japan	Hard	Yuko Hosoki	Yasuyo Kajita Maya Kidowaki	7–5, 3–6, 7–5
Runner-up	4.	14 November 1988	Kyoto, Japan	Hard	Yuko Hosoki	Kazuko Ito Yasuyo Kajita	4–6, 5–7
Winner	5.	24 April 1989	Sutton, United Kingdom	Clay	Shiho Okada	Aurelia Gheorghe Caroline Vis	6–3, 6–2
Winner	6.	15 May 1989	Queens, England	Clay	Shiho Okada	Belinda Borneo Amy van Buuren	7–6^(2), 6–3
Winner	7.	4 May 2008	Gifu, Japan	Carpet	Kurumi Nara	Melanie South Nicole Thyssen	6–1, 6–7^(8), [10–7]
Runner-up	8.	20 July 2008	Miyazaki, Japan	Carpet	Tomoko Yonemura	Misaki Doi Kurumi Nara	6–4, 3–6, [7–10]
Winner	9.	27 October 2008	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Rika Fujiwara	Chan Chin-wei Chen Yi	7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	10.	24 November 2008	Toyota, Japan	Carpet	Han Xinyun	Emma Laine Melanie South	1–6, 5–7
Runner-up	11.	17 May 2009	Saint-Gaudens, France	Clay	Sun Tiantian	Rika Fujiwara Chanelle Scheepers	5–7, 4–6
Runner-up	12.	10 October 2009	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Rika Fujiwara	Chan Yung-jan Ayumi Morita	2–6, 4–6
Winner	13.	30 May 2011	Nottingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Zhang Shuai	Raquel Kops-Jones Abigail Spears	6–4, 7–6^(7)
Runner-up	14.	7 January 2012	Quanzhou, China	Hard	Zhang Shuai	Chan Hao-ching Rika Fujiwara	6–4, 4–6, [7–10]

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

P

Z#

PO

G

F-S

SF-B

NMS

NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Overall win–loss: only main-draw results on WTA Tour (incl. Grand Slams) and at Olympics

Singles

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997– 2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	4R	2R	2R	2R	SF	3R	2R	A	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	3R	1R	1R	Q1	A	0 / 14	16–14
French Open	A	2R	A	Q2	4R	2R	1R	SF	4R	A	A	Q1	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	Q1	A	A	0 / 11	14–11
Wimbledon	A	1R	2R	1R	2R	A	3R	QF	SF	A	A	1R	1R	2R	1R	3R	1R	Q1	A	A	0 / 13	16–13
US Open	A	1R	2R	2R	2R	QF	QF	4R	1R	A	A	Q2	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	Q1	A	A	0 / 13	14–13
Win–Loss	0–0	1–3	5–3	2–3	6–4	6–3	11–4	14–4	9–4	0–0	0–0	0–2	1–4	1–4	0–4	4–4	0–4	0–1	0–0	0–0	0 / 51	60–51
Year-end championships
WTA Finals	Did Not Qualify						SF	QF	QF	Did Not Qualify											0 / 3	4–3
Premier Mandatory + Premier 5 + Tier I tournaments
Dubai / Doha	Not Held										A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1
Indian Wells	Not Tier I								SF	A	A	A	2R	2R	2R	2R	Q2	Q1	A	A	0 / 5	9–5
Miami	A	A	A	1R	4R	SF	QF	F	QF	A	A	A	2R	2R	1R	2R	1R	Q1	A	A	0 / 11	20–11
Madrid	Not Held											A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1
Rome	NT1		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1
Canada	NT1		A	2R	A	A	SF	A	A	A	A	A	2R	Q2	A	A	Q2	A	A	A	0 / 3	5–2
Cincinnati	Not Held / Not Tier I											A	1R	Q2	Q1	Q2	Q1	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1
Beijing	Not Prem Man											A	2R	1R	1R	Q2	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	1–3
Tokyo	Not Tier I					1R	1R	W	2R	A	Q3	1R	3R	1R	1R	2R	Not Prem 5				1 / 9	8–8
Berlin	A	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	QF	A	A	Not Held										0 / 3	2–3
Boca Raton	Not Tier I			A	3R	Not Held / Not Tier I															0 / 1	2–1
National representation
Olympics	A	Not Held			2R	Not Held			QF	NH / A	A	Not Held			A	Not Held			A	NH	0 / 2	4–2
Fed Cup	A	2R	2R	1R	2R	A	QF	1R	SF	A	A	A	Z1	A	PO	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 8	16–8
Career statistics
	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	'97–'07	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	Career
Titles / Finals	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 1	1 / 1	1 / 3	2 / 2	1 / 4	2 / 2	0 / 0	0 / 0	1 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	8 / 15
Overall Win–Loss	0–0	6–5	10–7	12–11	27–14	24–11	32–12	39–12	34–14	0–0	0–1	6–11	19–17	7–24	2–14	12–15	11–14	3–6	0–0	0–1	264–189
Year-end ranking	322	119	79	32	21	13	9	4	–	–	198	82	46	100	146	54	116	141	802	–	56%

Doubles

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997– 2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	1R	A	QF	3R	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	1R	3R	1R	2R	A	A	0 / 9	8–9
French Open	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	A	A	0 / 7	5–7
Wimbledon	A	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	3R	1R	1R	2R	2R	A	A	0 / 8	5–8
US Open	A	A	A	1R	1R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	1R	1R	SF	1R	A	A	0 / 8	6–8
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–2	3–4	3–3	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	4–3	0–4	3–4	6–4	3–4	0–0	0–0	0 / 32	24–32
Premier Mandatory + Premier 5 + Tier I tournaments
Indian Wells	Not Tier I								A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	SF	QF	A	A	A	0 / 3	5–3
Miami	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	2R	1R	A	A	0 / 4	1–4
Canada	NT1		A	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	1R	2R	A	A	A	0 / 4	3–4
Cincinnati	Not Held / Not Tier I											A	A	A	A	2R	SF	A	A	A	0 / 2	4–2
Beijing	Not Prem Man											A	2R	1R	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 4	1–4
Tokyo	Not Tier I					1R	SF	A	A	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	Not Prem 5				0 / 8	2–8
Berlin	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	Not Held										0 / 1	0–1
Boca Raton	Not Tier I			A	2R	Not Held / Not Tier I															0 / 1	1–1
National representation
Olympics	A	Not Held			2R	Not Held			A	NH / A	A	Not Held			A	Not Held			A	NH	0 / 1	1–1
Fed Cup	A	2R	2R	1R	2R	A	QF	1R	SF	A	A	A	Z1	A	PO	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 8	5–3
Career statistics
Titles / Finals	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	1 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 0	1 / 1	1 / 3	3 / 3	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	6 / 10
Overall Win–Loss	0–0	1–1	1–3	7–8	16–15	6–11	2–1	0–0	5–1	0–1	1–2	4–5	5–7	17–11	15–14	22–14	19–14	7–13	0–0	0–0	128–121
Year-end ranking	260	243	252	73	51	116	–	–	–	–	221	126	131	55	86	40	34	95	–	–	51%

Video games

• Date Kimiko no Virtual Tennis (1994, Super Famicom)

References

1. Kimiko Date Krumm: Biography on official WTA site
2. "Kimiko Date Will Retire After End of the Season". The Los Angeles Times. 25 September 1996. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
3. Tennis-Japan's Date to return to WTA Tour at age of 37, Reuters, Sun 6 April 2008 1:37 pm BST
4. Date, 38, Loses Aussie Opener SI.com, 20 January 2009
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) sonyericssonwtatour.com
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) sonyericssonwtatour.com
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) sonyericcsonwtatour.com
9. "Veteran Krumm seals historic win". BBC News. 15 October 2010.
10. Full Players List Released Archived 26 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine ASB Classic Official Website
11. 2011 Hobard International Draw
12. McGrath, Chris (21 June 2011). "O'Brien fails to live up to billing on new stage". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
13. http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/stats/day10/2230ms.html
14. "Daily Tennis News Briefs 17Aug11". Retrieved 17 August 2011.
15. "Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm becomes Australian Open's oldest female winner". The Australian. 16 January 2013.
16. http://www.wtatennis.com/players/player/40130/title/Kimiko-Date#ranking
17. http://www.ubitennis.net/blog/2016/02/22/injury-forces-kimiko-date-krumm-to-the-brink-of-retirement/
18. http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/04/46-kimiko-date-returning-wta-tour-following-knee-surgery/65320/
19. "Kimiko Date's career ends with 6-0, 6-0 loss to Krunic in Tokyo". Tennis.com. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
20. Sarah Edworthy. "Date-Krumm first to win on new show court." Wimbledon site
21. "Players". wtatennis.com. Women's Tennis Association. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
22. Kamakshi Tandon (27 September 2016). "Ahead of comeback, ageless Kimiko Date-Krumm files for divorce after 16 years of marriage".
23. http://www.tennisnow.com/Blogs/NET-POSTS/August-2016-(1)/Kimiko-Date-Krumm-Opens-German-Bakery-in-Tokyo.aspx
24. "BBC 100 Women 2017: Who is on the list this year?". BBC. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Kimiko Date at the Women's Tennis Association
• Kimiko Date at the International Tennis Federation
• Kimiko Date at the Fed Cup