Kimiko Date
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Kimiko Date |
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Kimiko Date is a natural lefthander, but plays tennis right handed. Japanese tradition is such that it expected to be right handed. She has a double hand, and if she stretched wide, she uses her left hand.
Kimiko is a mega star in Japan and has her own company named KD. When she retired in 1996, she had a full time job in the company.
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Iva Majoli |
Right handed, Double hand backhand. |
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Country |
Croatia |
Marital Status |
Single |
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Height |
179cm |
Weight |
65kg |
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Birthday |
12/8/1977 |
Age |
She is currently 20 |
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Best surface |
Clay |
Best shot |
Backhand |
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Standard Rank |
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Favourite Rank |
12 |
Kimiko Date has short flat groundstrokes which are suitable to surfaces such as grass and hard court. Her main strength is her incredible speed, as she is the fastest player in the game. She wins points by counterpunching the power of her opponent. She is a very fit player and is mentally strong. Her game is similar to Hingis as she plays with thought and the weakness of both is their soft serves. In 1996 Date added a more attacking part of her game which included going to the net and taking more risks. Her results against Graf prooved a good decision. At the end of 1996 Date announced her retirement at the age of 26.
Date defeated Graf for the first time in her career 7-6 3-6 12-10, saving a match point. The win came in her home city in the Fed Cup competition. At Wimbledon, Date beat Martinez and Pierce to reach the Semi Finals. In a late match against Graf, Date had a slow start, trailing 2-6 0-2. Date found her best ever form winning 6 games in a row to take the set. She tactically out classed Graf, however, the play was suspended at 2-6 6-2. Date would dead set have won the match if it had continued into the English evening. As she had lost the 1st set of her five previous matches Graf took the 3rd set 6-3 the next day. At the Lipton Date played to the quarter finals losing a respectable 7-6 6-3 to Graf.
Date made a huge comeback when she trailed 1-6 1-5 to Sabatini in the semi finals. She was struggling with a shoulder injury and faced 5 match points before winning 1-6 7-6 7-6. Graf beat an ailing Date in the final. Date defeated Majoli and Davenport to reach the Semi finals of the French Open. She lost a match full of momentum shifts to Sanchez Vicario. She also made the Quarter finals of Wimbledon.
Date made history in becoming the first ever Japanese Semi Finalist in a Grand Slam. She defeated Martinez before losing 6-3 6-3 to Graf, winning the most games.
Date reached the Quarter Finals for the first time at the US Open. Majoli aged 15 beat 13-Hack to reach the round of 16 at the French Open. She came the closest she has ever been to beating Graf, losing 6-4 7-6. She fell to Novotna at the US Open in the second round. Date defended her Japan Open title beating Frazier in the final.
Date won her first ever tournament by winning the Japan Open, in her home country.
Kimiko's GRAND SLAM Record
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Grand Slam |
89 |
90 |
91 |
92 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
96 |
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Australian |
M |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
S |
3 |
2 |
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French |
M |
M |
2 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
S |
4 |
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Wimbledon |
M |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Q |
S |
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US Open |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
Q |
Q |
4 |
1 |
M
= Missed slams
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Kimiko Date |
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