Japan鈥檚 鈥榠ron lady鈥 Date to call time on career at 46
Print Edition
Japan鈥檚 Kimiko Date, the grand dame of women鈥檚 tennis, announced yesterday that she will retire from the game a few days short of her 47th birthday.
The former world No. 4 said on her official blog that she will add the 鈥渇ull stop鈥 to her career by retiring 鈥 for a second time 鈥 after the Japan Women鈥檚 Open tournament, which begins in Tokyo on September 11.
鈥淚 have always been obsessed with competing,鈥 said Date, who took a 12-year hiatus from professional tennis after quitting at the peak of her powers in 1996.
鈥淏ut increasingly I鈥檝e found myself adjusting the length and intensity of training to look after my physical condition.
鈥淚t has not been an easy decision to sever the feeling that I want to get back on court and run around like I used to,鈥 added the eight-time WTA Tour singles champion and former Wimbledon semifinalist. 鈥淏ut it is time to put the punctuation point on my tennis career.鈥
Date, a wiry 1.63-meter tall, underwent two knee surgeries since appearing at the 2016 Australian Open, but defied the odds to return to action in May this year. The Kyoto native admitted she was still nursing a sore knee and shoulder.
鈥淎ll my energy is focused on the Japan Open,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 hope many of those who have supported me down the years can come out to watch and have that image to remember me by.鈥
She won her first Japan Open title in 1992, the same year defending champion Christina McHale of the United States was born. She said she felt unable to push herself enough to compete with players in their twenties.
Date, whose game is a throwback to a time when tennis was more about lobs, dinks and clever use of spin than power-hitting, broke several records.
Most notably in 2009, Date became the second-oldest player in the modern era to win a WTA singles title after Billie Jean King when she took the Korea Open.
Despite playing on until the ripe old age of 46, Date fell some way short of her idol Martina Navratilova, who retired a month short of her 50th birthday in 2006.
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