Player of the week: Kimiko Date-Krumm

Former Japanese player Kimiko Date surprised everyone when she announced a month ago that she was coming back to the Tour. 1970-born Date played regularly in the early 90s reaching a career high ranking at #4, with semifinal appareances at Australian Open in 1994, Roland Garros in 1995 and Wimbledon in 1996 and winning 7 WTA Tour titles until she retired in 1996 at the age of 26. That means that Date is 37 years old nowadays and it's been more than 11 years since she quitted.


So nobody really expected anything from Date's comeback. But she has surprised everyone once again, as in her first tournament, a $50,000 ITF in Gifu (Japan), she has gone through the qualy to reach the final of the main draw. On her way to the final, she not only defeated Top 200 players such as Rika Fujiwara and Melanie South, but she also upsetted 1st seed Aiko Nakamura, a very solid Top 80 player. Unfortunately, Kimiko lost in a very close 3-set final to veteran Top 80 Tamarine Tanasugarn. But that's not all, as Date also took part on the doubles event reaching another final and taking the title this time.


This week she takes part in another $50,000 ITF event in Fukuoka (Japan) where everybody will pay attention to her. Maybe they are not the most important tournaments, but what Date is achieving at 37 years old is worth to mention and she's a well deserved player of the week.