Wta stars took social media to congratulate Kimiko Date on amazing career as she retired from the tennis sport

WTA stars took to social media to congratulate Kimiko Date on an amazing career as she retired from the sport following her defeat to Aleksandra Krunic at the Japan Women's Open.

Date, now 46, initially stepped away from the sport in 1996 before making a comeback 12 years later.

VENUS WILLIAMS WINS OVER DATE KRUMM IN 1 ROUND. US OPEN 2014

Venus Williams rebounded after a slow start to defeat 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. In the first set, Williams’ game began to disintegrate after failing to convert on five break points in Date-Krumm’s opening service game. 

Landing just 44 percent of her first serves in, the 34-year-old appeared to have trouble with the low-bouncing shots of the veteran Japanese player and frequently mistimed her shots on the backhand side. Meanwhile, Date-Krumm stood well inside the baseline to return serve and kept pressure on her opponent throughout, mixing up flat drives with delicate drop shots. Williams committed her 20th unforced error of the match on set point. However, there’s a reason that Williams is a former world No. 1 and two-time US Open champion. In the second set, the American began hitting her shots with more height over the net to give herself a chance to get into the rallies. Meanwhile, the previously steady Date-Krumm began to spray unforced errors, including a backhand sent well long to fall behind 4-0. She kept fighting, but couldn’t recover from her slow start, allowing Williams to level the match at one set each. The final set was one-way traffic for Williams, with the 2000-01 US Open champion showing more fear of a flying bee on court than her opponent's forehands. She continued to struggle with her first serve percentage, but did enough from the baseline to keep Date-Krumm from gaining any rhythm and raced to a 5-0 lead. Williams faltered briefly,failing to serve out the match twice, but converted on her first match point after just under two hours of play when Date-Krumm hit a backhand into the net. "The way she hits the ball is like no one else on tour," said Williams. "It's hard to get a rhythm with her and all of our matches have been so tough."

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA IN QUARTER-FINAL OF THE AEGON CLASSIC 2014

Last year’s victor Daniela Hantuchova has fallen to 43 year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-4, 6-0 in the third round of the Aegon Classic. 

This takes their head-to-head record to 4-2 to Date-Krumm, with this being her first triumph over Hantuchova on grass. Speaking after the loss, Hantuchova said: "Going into the match, I felt very confident. I thought, you know, I had those chances early in the beginning of the first set to maybe break her. But after that, she just didn't really give me a chance. I tried everything, and I mean, she was hitting lines, moving well, coming to the net, serving unbelievably well. I thought I was always going to have chances on her serve, but today just everything went her way."

RDWANSKA Y SU TENNIS CONTROL PUEDEN CON LA VETERANÍA DE DATE-KRUMM EN SYDNEY 2013

RADWANSKA SE DISPONE A ELABORAR UNA DEJADA DE REVÉS ANTE DATE KRUMM
RADWANSKA_DATE KRUMM 64 63
Riguroso calor en Sydney, donde se superaron con facilidad los 34 grados.
Partido fácil y cómodo de la gran campoena tenista polaca, que volviño a imprimir su tennis control con relativa comodidad, a dos mangas, con su ofensiva habitual, sus dejadas clásicas, muchas d e ellas de revés, y sus boleas magsitrales, que neutralizaron cualquier tentativa de la veterana tenista nipona.

radwanska sirve ante date-krumm en sydney 2013..
El % de primeros servicios de la polaca fue cercano al 60 (58%), mientras que la nipona fue si cabe algo mejor,  61%.
Pero la clave de la polaca es la persistencia en los puntos largos, mantenerse firme desde el fondo de la pista, y esta vez endosó 33 winners frente a los 22 de la nipona.
Con todo, Radwanska volvió a cometer mnas errores, 27 frente a los 22 de Date krumm.
Eso sí, 6 breaks en el conjunto del partido.
Radwanska marca su tennis control y camina a por su segundo título en 2013...
 
 

LA BELLA RYBARIKOVA BRILLA CON LUZ PROPIA EN KOREA 2012

Magdalena Rybarikova _ Kimiko Date-Krumm  64 63
La eslovaca sacó la valentía en la pista ante una veteranísima que en cierta medida juega en un torneo conocido.
Pero Rybarikova supo hacr valer el talento tanto al servicio como restando con mucha profundidad, y forando con ello los errores de su rival.
El partido lo dominó la eslovaca, aunque tuvo momentos más críticos.
Más winners deMagdalena, 24 en mis cuentas, y mas errores de la nipona, algo lógico en la tendencia del partido.