Japanese 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm relished every second of her epic three-hour defeat against Venus Williams on Wednesday and insisted she’s not ready for a second retirement. Date-Krumm came close to causing a huge second round shock under the Centre Court roof as she pushed five-time champion Williams to the brink before finally bowing out 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 8-6. It was a heroic performance from the second oldest woman to reach the Wimbledon second round in the Open era. Although Date-Krumm, a semi-finalist way back in 1996, couldn’t quite pull off the fairytale triumph, she departed to a standing ovation after it took Venus two hours and 56 minutes to finally see off her gutsy opponent.
Date-Krumm’s senior status on the tour is such that 36 women in the main draw weren’t even born when she made her Wimbledon debut in 1989 — a year after winning the Junior singles. So she was delighted to have rolled back the years so impressively, but conceded there would be plenty of aches and pains as a result. “Of course I felt tired,” Date-Krumm said. “At the beginning of the second set, I think my body was heavy. After that I came back but it was very tiring. “I’m still okay, although maybe tomorrow it’s a problem.”
After 12 years in retirement, Date-Krumm decided to come back in 2008 at the prompting of her husband, a German motor-racing driver who had missed her first spell on the tour. Once ranked as high as fourth in the world, she has made a decent fist of her comeback, but even the world number 57 didn’t expect to push Venus so hard. “Of course I’m very disappointed to lose but most important I played my tennis and was able to fight with Venus,” she said. “She’s a five-time champion and a great player. So it was very good match for me. After 15 years I come back on Centre Court and played a great match. So I’m very happy even though I lost.”
