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On the edge of 44, Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm is tennis's eternal woman

On the edge of 44, Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm is tennis's eternal woman

NEW YORK – Her run ended Thursday, as she and doubles partner Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic lost in the U.S. Open doubles semi-finals to the No. 4 seeds, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia.

Kimiko Date-Krumm  partner Barbora Zahlavora Strycova's run at the U.S. Open ended in the doubles semifinal (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images - who took the photos of KDK in 1994 and 1996 that are included in the above photo gallery).
Kimiko Date-Krumm  partner Barbora Zahlavora Strycova's run at the U.S. Open ended in the doubles semifinal (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images - who took the photos of KDK in 1994 and 1996 that are included in the above photo gallery).

But Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan may well just be immortal. She turns 44 at the end of this month, and turned pro more than 25 years ago. She was out of the game in 1996 at age 26 despite reaching No. 4 in singles; she said later that her increasing loneliness and unhappiness with life on Tour as a Japanese player with few peers and halting English, was the biggest reason. She returned in 2008.

It's unlikely she thought she would still be playing in 2014; she could easily have found that her 1990s game was long out of date. But she returned to the top 50 within a year and a half of her full-time return (currently No. 88), and will be ranked about No. 35 in doubles after her effort this week, close to a career high of No. 33 first reached right about this time of year in ... 1992.

Her throwback game causes trouble for her opponents. But a combination of winning the DNA lottery and clearly, a huge amount of off-court work have her looking like this (photos taken at the Rogers Cup in Montreal last month):

It's either completely discouraging to women even younger than she is, or a major source of motivation. All depends on how you take it.