At the ripe old age of 37, after 12 years in retirement, Kimiko Date has announced her intent to return to women's professional tennis.
After days of speculation, Date made her decision to return to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour public at a press conference in Tokyo today.
Date, a former top 5 player, who made solid second-week appearances in the Slams throughout the 1990s, is realistic about her efforts. She plans on hitting the satellite circuit before moving on to Tour level events.
“Right now I don't think playing on the WTA Tour is a realistic target,” she told Reuters. “I won't say there's zero chance but it's not my immediate goal.”
Her main objective will be to participate in the national championships in November, but along the way, she has made it clear that she wants no free rides, and will happily bow out gracefully if her efforts are not fruitful.
“If I'm not good enough this time [a]round I'll quit,” she said with a familiar yet polite smile. “I don't want to be getting (wildcards) into events and taking the place of younger players. That wouldn't be right.”
Date was the top-most ranked Japanese player in history and competed in two Olympiads, Barcelona and Atlanta, where she reached the quarterfinals in the latter. Beijing will likely not be an option as only players who have made themselves available for Fed Cup play in the preceding year are eligible to be named to their nation’s Olympic teams.
It was the year she reached the last eight in Atlanta and made the semifinals of Wimbledon that Date unexpectedly announced her immediate retirement from the sport.
“The last few years of my career I hated tennis,” Date now explained of her decision. “I didn't enjoy traveling around the world and being alone. So I stopped and I distanced myself from the sport.
"But I'm older now, I'm married and I have a different outlook. I wanted to give something back to tennis. I'm going to take things gradually, to get a feel for where my game is. I'm not expecting miracles.”
Date has been training intensely for the last six months, partly in preparation for exhibitions against Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova in her native Japan.
“When I started practicing again I would get home and couldn't even stand up in the kitchen. Luckily my husband was kind enough to let me out of the cooking.”
After competing in the Tokyo exhibition, where she defeated both Graf and Navratilova, Date felt compelled to reignite her career.
“That convinced me to try to come back. I felt like I wanted to play again and that I could still play the game.”
This is actually Date’s second comeback attempt. She accepted a wildcard for a casual entry into the doubles draw at now AIG Open in Tokyo back in 2002, where she ruptured her Achilles tendon in the first round of play, making her comeback short-lived.
“I had a blank of over 11 years. It's different to having played all that time. My body hasn't had that wear and tear but I'm not going to rush it. I don't want to risk an injury,” she said, leery of the risks of playing at the top level again.
Throughout her career, Date achieved a career high ranking of four in 1995, reached the semifinals of the Australian and French Opens as well as Wimbledon, and notched wins over the likes of Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Mary Jo Fernandez, Steffi Graf, and Gabriella Sabatini.
She currently resides in Tokyo with her husband, German racecar driver Michael Krumm.