Kimiko Date-Krumm downs Yulia Putintseva to win Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge – Tennis News
Asia’s highest ranked tennis player in the history of the sport, Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, defeated the Russian born Kazakh youngster, Yulia Putintseva, in the final of 15th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Japanese player raced to victory in the opener but a spirited fight back from her young rival resulted in her losing the second one but the 42-year-old used her massive experience to claim victory in the decider, winning the
contest 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge is an ITF event that is held every year on the outdoor hard courts in Dubai.
Date-Krumm, who was playing in her third final in the last four weeks, was happy to end the season on a high note. A big reason behind her huge happiness was that she had lost the previous two. The Japanese player was downed by
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the title match in Pune, India. Then she was beaten by Voegele Stefanie of Switzerland in the final in Toyota, Japan.
During the post match press conference, a jubilant Date-Krumm said, “Tough match. 2012, finished with me as a winner, it’s perfect, I can’t say anything. It was a very very tough year for me. Injuries, no wins for a long time,
and since India, I was in the final, then twice in the final, always losing in the final.”
The Japanese player shared that she did not get worry for the outcome of her latest match, although, she was under pressure when she started to face cramps. The right-hander hailed her young rival for fighting bravely throughout
the match.
She added, “But today I tried to fight. I didn’t care about the result, just try to fight until the end. And I did that. I started cramping. It was very difficult to move, it was quite scary how strong the cramps were coming. And
Putintseva never gave up. She kept getting every ball. It was physically and mentally very tough.”
Date-Krumm is the oldest player on the WTA Tour. The Japanese national attained her career best ranking of number four in the world in 1994. The Tokyo, Japan resident took retirement from professional tennis in 1996 but made comeback
in 2008. Date-Krumm captured her eighth WTA title at the Korea Open in 2009. With that effort, she became the second oldest winner of a WTA event after Billie Jean King.
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