Don't Miss

ENG

Cricket
Football
NDTV Podcast
Formula 1
Tennis
Golf
Badminton
- Kabaddi
- Boxing
- Athletics
- Chess
- Swimming
- Shooting
- Wrestling
- Table tennis
- Othersports
- NFL
- NBA
- NHL
- US Streamers
- MMA
- WWE

Dark / Light mode

Oct 8,2026 09:37 PM IST

Kimiko Date-Krumm calls her longevity 'a miracle'

facebook

twitter

Settings

Change Font Size

A A
Change Language

हिंदी | Hindi
Focus on Story

Select Language

Languages
हिंदी | Hindi

Dark / Light mode

Featured Links
Featured Sports
- Cricket
- Football
- Formula 1
- Tennis
- Hockey
- Golf
- Badminton
More Sports
- Kabaddi
- Boxing
- Athletics
- Chess
- Swimming
- Shooting
- Wrestling
- Table tennis
- Othersports
More from NDTV
- NDTV
- Business
- Hindi
- Movies
- Cricket
- Health
- Food
- Tech
- Auto
- Apps
- Trains

Aus Open, 2013

Scoreboard
News
Photos
Videos
Fixtures
teams
players
Venues
Results
More
- Stats

arrow-down reddit snapchat twitter facebook comments email printer search bell top-nav reddit-fill snapchat-fill twitter-fill facebook-fill share whatsapp-fill bookmark arrow-rgt arrow-next arrow-up refresh close link cog star book zap cricket football tennis formula-1 badminton hockey golf boxing ndtv-n check left-arrow right-arrow

Live Cricket Matches

Cricket Matches
Football Matches
All Matches

India Matches

IPL 2026

Football Matches

Cricket Matches
Football Matches
All Matches

ISL

EPL

All Matches

Cricket Matches
Football Matches
All Matches

India Matches

EPL

Match 11, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier A, 2026 at Bangi, Oct 9, 2026

notify

notify

Kuwait

Bahrain

Fri, Oct 9, 2026 - 6:45 AM IST
Match 10, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier A, 2026 at Kuala Lumpur, Oct 9, 2026

notify

notify

Mongolia

Thailand

Fri, Oct 9, 2026 - 6:45 AM IST
Match 12, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier A, 2026 at Kuala Lumpur, Oct 9, 2026

notify

notify

Qatar

Myanmar

Fri, Oct 9, 2026 - 6:45 AM IST
Match 1, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier B, 2026 at Kuala Lumpur, Oct 8, 2026

China

96 (16.3)

Maldives

100/0 (10.1)

Maldives beat China by 10 wickets
Match 3, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier B, 2026 at Kuala Lumpur, Oct 8, 2026

Malaysia

72/5 (10.0)

Hong Kong, China

140/5 (20.0)

Hong Kong, China beat Malaysia by 7 runs (DLS method)
Match 2, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier B, 2026 at Bangi, Oct 8, 2026

Saudi Arabia

174/7 (20.0)

Singapore

99/7 (20.0)

Saudi Arabia beat Singapore by 75 runs

Sports Home Australian Open 2013 News Kimiko DateKrumm calls her longevity a miracle

Story ProgressBack to home

Kimiko Date-Krumm calls her longevity 'a miracle'

After a week of setting age-related records and becoming the media darling of this year's Australian Open, the Japanese player bid farewell to the big stage for now after losing her third-round singles match on Saturday.

Written by Associated Press
Updated: January 19, 2013 09:44 pm IST

Read Time: 3 min

Melbourne:

Kimiko Date-Krumm is as amazed as everyone else that she's still playing Grand Slam tennis at 42.

"It's a miracle," she said.

After a week of setting age-related records and becoming the media darling of this year's Australian Open, the Japanese player bid farewell to the big stage for now after losing her third-round singles match on Saturday.

"It was a great tournament for me," Date-Krumm said after losing 6-2, 7-6 (3) to 21-year-old Serbian Bojana Jovanovski.

In a sport dominated with women half her age, it was a great tournament for Date-Krumm.

This was her 43rd time playing a Grand Slam tournament - and she was the oldest woman in the draw by about a decade. The only other player who came close was 33-year-old Greta Arn of Hungary who lost quickly in the first round.

Date-Krumm is ranked 100th but defied the ranking system. She created a stir by beating No. 12-seeded Nadia Petrova - who is 30 - 6-2, 6-0 in the first round and becoming the oldest woman to win a singles match at the Australian Open.

Over the course of a week, she held court at packed press conferences and fielded questions about her secrets to longevity.

"Sleep a lot. Drink water a lot. It's nothing special," she said, noting that she's older than some of her opponents' mothers.

She recounted amusing conversations with her peers from the past, like Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport who retired years ago and have started families.

"Everybody says to me, 'You are crazy,' First word is always, 'You are crazy,'" she laughed. "But they support me a lot."

Date-Krumm's best result at the Australian Open came in 1994 when she reached the semifinals. She achieved a career-high ranking of No. 4 in 1995.

She admitted finding it tough to keep up with this generation of fitness fanatics whose raw power has changed the women's game.

"Everytime when I go to the gym, everybody is there, even before their matches, after their match," she said. "They're doing so much exercise. That's why women's tennis is changing compared to 10 years ago, 20 years ago."

When Graf was winning her 22 Grand Slams in the 1980s and 90s the game was more about technique, she said.

"Now it's more speedy and more powerful," she said, a few hours after Serena Williams unleashed her latest 207 kph (128 mph) serve.

Date-Krumm, who is married to German race car driver Michael Krumm, took a 12-year break from tennis and returned in 2008. When she came back, she never planned to play at the Grand Slam level.

"So, yeah, it's a miracle I was in the third round this year," she said. "I'm very surprised myself."

Her stay in Melbourne is not quite over yet. She's still playing doubles, and has advanced to the third round with Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain.

Resting doesn't seem to be on her agenda.

After Melbourne, Date-Krumm plans to return to Japan for a couple days before flying off for a packed schedule of tournaments that include Pattaya, Thailand, then Fed Cup, Memphis, Brazil, Indian Wells, Miami, Mexico.

In answer to the inevitable question: Will she be back next year?

"I will try my best," she says.