STANFORD — When Kimiko Date-Krumm retired from professional tennis in 1996, Bill Clinton had just defeated Bob Dole to earn his second term as president of the United States. Twitter was something birds did, and Steffi Graf was the No. 1 player in the world and single with no children.
When Date-Krumm returned 12 years later, Hillary Clinton was running for president, Twitter was gaining popularity as a social neworking and microblogging service, and Graf was an International Tennis Hall of Famer and married with 6- and 4-year-old kids.
Date-Krumm is to comebacks what John Isner and Nicolas Mahut are to marathon matches. Now 40, virtually unheard of for a pro tennis player, the Japanese veteran is ranked 52nd in the world. The next oldest player in the top 100 is another Asian, 34-year-old Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand at No. 79.
In her first life on the pro tour, Date-Krumm climbed to No. 4, reached the semifinals once each at Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open, and twice advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. But by 26, she was burned out.
"It was difficult on the tour," Date-Krumm said in halting English after losing to eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-6 (7) Monday night in the first round of the Bank of The West Classic. "I felt stress from the Japanese media. It was the first time there was a top-10 player (from Japan), and there were not so many other (top) athletes. Now, there's baseball (Japanese players in the United States) and soccer. There was much media (attention on) me.
"There were no (laptops) or mobile phones. I was always traveling far from Japan. I couldn't enjoy the tour."
Date-Krumm enjoyed her retirement, working on projects, swimming, jogging, playing tennis with friends for fun, doing TV commentary at Grand Slam tournaments, working for a fashion magazine and getting engaged in 2000. She ran the 2004 London Marathon in 3 hours, 30 minutes. But her husband, German race car driver Michael Krumm, pleaded with her to return to the tour.
"He likes sports, and we play(ed) tennis together," Date-Krumm said. "He always push me: 'Why don't you play (on the tour again)? I said, 'I don't want to. I was already successful. Enough.' He said, 'Please, I don't see your serious game.' I said, 'No, no, no' for many years."
After playing an exhibition with Martina Navratilova and Graf in Tokyo, though, Date-Krumm decided to start training.
"Then I start to enjoy tennis," she said. "At that time, I think about staying in Japan, but now I'm back on the WTA Tour."
Since returning, Date Krumm has become the:
—Oldest player at 39 years, 7 months to beat a top-10 star with her first-round victory over Dinara Safina in the first round of last year's French Open. Date-Krumm surpassed that by beating Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals at Osaka, Japan, at 40 years, 17 days in 2010.
—Second-oldest player at 38 years, 11 months to win a WTA title when she triumphed at Seoul in 2009. Billie Jean King won at Birmingham, England, in 1983 at 39 years, 7 months.
—Oldest player to rank in the top 50 since King was No.22 at age 40 in 1984. Date-Krumm rose from No. 54 to No. 50 last August.
Date-Krumm, only 5-foot-4 and 117 pounds, plays as if she comes from another era, which she does. She uses touch and sharp angles and often charges the net. Naturally left-handed, she learned to play right-handed to follow Japanese custom. Her forehand, in fact, is unorthodox and appears stiff. Rather than using a customary looping backswing, she takes her racket straight back.
In possibly the match of the year, Date-Krumm extended Venus Williams to 6-7 (6), 6-3, 8-6 last month in the second round at Wimbledon.
"I've never played anyone who hits the ball like that," Williams, 31, told reporters afterward. "Nobody today comes to the net like she does. They don't play quirky. I thought she played unbelievable today, nowhere near her age."
After Wimbledon, Date-Krumm returned to Japan and hit with juniors at a tournament in the area devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in March. The disaster killed more than 15,000 people.
"Day by day, things are getting better," said Date-Krumm, who has raised or donated $64,000 for recovery efforts. "It's difficult for them to laugh. They were so happy to play with me. People don't have a house or clothes. It takes a long time (to recover)."
Date-Krumm hopes her exploits on the pro tour at 40 inspire her country, much as the Japanese women's soccer team did with its recent Women's World Cup championship.
"I believe sports has big power," she said. "During the clay-court season (in the spring), I lose many times, but I don't give up. Then I almost beat Venus. If you don't give up, maybe the light is coming."
Veteran journalist Paul Bauman, based in Sacramento, covers Northern California professional, collegiate and junior tennis. Contact him at norcaltennisczar@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @norcaltenczar.
Showing posts with label Navratilova. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Navratilova. Show all posts
Friday, July 29, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Sharapova: From Russia with love
At 7 years old, Maria Sharapova boarded an airplane with her father, Yuri, in Russia and headed to the United States. Maria's mother, Yelena, stayed behind to finish college and await a visa.
Yuri had $700 in his pocket that he had borrowed from Maria's grandparents. Neither he nor Maria spoke English.
They were headed to the famed Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Fla., to pursue Yuri's dream of stardom for Maria.
"When they came, they had less than nothing," Bollettieri recalled. "They certainly didn't come from money, my man. It was tough. Anytime you split up a family and don't have a pot to pee in, it's a big gamble. But it paid off."
Figurately and literally. With her prodigious talent, towering height, cover-girl looks and Marine-like discipline, Sharapova has become the world's richest female athlete. She grossed $24.5 million last year, according to Forbes magazine. Only $651,279 came from prize money. Sharapova earned the rest from endorsements -- with companies such as Nike, Sony Ericsson and Tiffany -- and appearance fees.
After a first-round bye, Sharapova is scheduled to play her opening match in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford on Wednesday at 7 p.m. She is seeded second behind Belarus' Victoria Azarenka, who beat Sharapova in a shriek-fest in last year's final. Unseeded Serena Williams, who returned in June after missing 11 months because of serious health problems, could meet Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
A native of frigid, bleak Siberia, Sharapova lives in sunny, idyllic Manhattan Beach, Calif. The 24-year-old Russian citizen not only speaks English fluently, she has no accent. She is engaged to Slovenian Sasha Vujacic, who was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the New Jersey Nets last December.
Formerly ranked No. 1 in the world, the 6-foot-2 Sharapova has fought her way back to No. 5 after undergoing surgery on her right (serving) shoulder in October 2008 for chronic pain.
"I'm very happy and proud to be where I'm from," Sharapova, an only child, told reporters last month at Wimbledon, where she reached the final after winning the 2004 title at 17. "I know that my family and I have been through many challenges."
During a tough stretch in 2007, Sharapova wrote in a blog: "I know it's as tough for my fans to handle my losses as it is for me. But let me point something out. I didn't leave my mom at the age of seven for nothing. I didn't spend six hours a day practicing in the Florida sun at the age of nine for nothing. I didn't sleep in little cots for three years, eating oatmeal out of a packet while playing in the middle of nowhere for nothing. All this has helped me build character and there's no better asset than being able to stand up for yourself."
It all began with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Sharapova's parents lived 100 miles away in Gomel, Belarus, and Yelena became pregnant with Maria three months after the explosion. Worried about radiation, the couple moved to the industrial town of Nyagan in western Siberia, and Maria was born the next year.
Yuri worked in the oil fields for four years and saved enough money to move the family to the resort of Sochi, the hometown of former world No. 1 player Yevgeny Kafelnikov and site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, on the Black Sea.
One day when Maria was 4, she got bored watching her father play tennis and picked up a racket. Veteran coach Yuri Yutkin was amazed by her hand-eye coordination and offered to work with her. Kafelnikov obtained a child-sized racket, not easy to come by during the breakup of the Soviet Union, for her.
When Maria was 6, Martina Navratilova spotted her hitting balls at a clinic during the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Impressed, Navratilova recommended that Maria train at the Bollettieri academy.
Yuri worked odd jobs in Florida to pay for Maria's lessons until she was old enough to be admitted to the academy. It would be two years before Yelena could join them.
At 9, Sharapova earned a scholarship to live and train at the academy. She endured constant teasing from roommates twice her age.
"She was very thin and had something very few have," Bollettieri said. "She was a fierce competitor with tremendous focus. When she was 12, (Tatiana) Golovin, (Jelena) Jankovic and Sharapova were here at the same time. Maria scared the s--- out of them.
"She is where she is because she's very disciplined. She doesn't pray for you to miss. She goes for her shot. She has had tremendous adversity with her shoulder injury, and she has fought her way through it."
Bollettieri also credits Sharapova's father.
"Her daddy did a great job. He didn't know his fanny from his elbow when he came here. But he was smart enough to listen to me and the other coaches. He knew when to get out," Bollettieri said.
Sharapova won the girls 16-and-under title of the Eddie Herr Championships at 13, made her professional debut at 14 and won her first WTA tournament at 16.
Showing uncommon poise, Sharapova upset top seed and two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 for the 2004 Wimbledon title. Sharapova added the 2006 U.S. Open and 2008 Australian Open crowns before having surgery and missing 10 months.
Sharapova has struggled with her serve since then but pronounced her shoulder fit during a recent conference call. She was encouraged by reaching the Wimbledon final, in which she lost to Petra Kvitova, a 6-foot left-hander from the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4.
"It gives me a tremendous amount of confidence that I've been doing something right in the last few months and I've been getting better," said Sharapova, who also reached the French Open semifinals on clay, her worst surface, in June.
Bollettieri was less sanguine.
"Maria Sharapova got whacked (in the Wimbledon final)," he wrote in the London-based Independent newspaper. "I have never, ever seen that before, and this is a girl I've been watching since she was 9 years old. Kvitova absolutely knocks the stuffing out of the ball.
"By the end of the match, Maria was five to eight feet behind the baseline. I've never seen her pushed like that before, and there was nothing she could do about it. We have seen a new power emerge in the women's game."
It's not Sharapova's nature to give up, though. Reflecting at Wimbledon on her injury layoff, she said: "I've had many opportunities to say that I've had enough or that I've achieved plenty, more than I ever thought I would. Yet I still felt there was something missing. I still felt there was a lot more inside of me when I wanted to play.
"I did many things," continued Sharapova, who enjoys reading and stamp-collecting in her spare time. "I worked on many projects, and I spent holidays with friends and family (whom) maybe I wouldn't get a chance to (see) in a regular tennis season. But at the end of the day, those didn't mean anything compared to what it means to win tennis matches."
Yuri had $700 in his pocket that he had borrowed from Maria's grandparents. Neither he nor Maria spoke English.
They were headed to the famed Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Fla., to pursue Yuri's dream of stardom for Maria.
"When they came, they had less than nothing," Bollettieri recalled. "They certainly didn't come from money, my man. It was tough. Anytime you split up a family and don't have a pot to pee in, it's a big gamble. But it paid off."
Figurately and literally. With her prodigious talent, towering height, cover-girl looks and Marine-like discipline, Sharapova has become the world's richest female athlete. She grossed $24.5 million last year, according to Forbes magazine. Only $651,279 came from prize money. Sharapova earned the rest from endorsements -- with companies such as Nike, Sony Ericsson and Tiffany -- and appearance fees.
After a first-round bye, Sharapova is scheduled to play her opening match in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford on Wednesday at 7 p.m. She is seeded second behind Belarus' Victoria Azarenka, who beat Sharapova in a shriek-fest in last year's final. Unseeded Serena Williams, who returned in June after missing 11 months because of serious health problems, could meet Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
A native of frigid, bleak Siberia, Sharapova lives in sunny, idyllic Manhattan Beach, Calif. The 24-year-old Russian citizen not only speaks English fluently, she has no accent. She is engaged to Slovenian Sasha Vujacic, who was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the New Jersey Nets last December.
Formerly ranked No. 1 in the world, the 6-foot-2 Sharapova has fought her way back to No. 5 after undergoing surgery on her right (serving) shoulder in October 2008 for chronic pain.
"I'm very happy and proud to be where I'm from," Sharapova, an only child, told reporters last month at Wimbledon, where she reached the final after winning the 2004 title at 17. "I know that my family and I have been through many challenges."
During a tough stretch in 2007, Sharapova wrote in a blog: "I know it's as tough for my fans to handle my losses as it is for me. But let me point something out. I didn't leave my mom at the age of seven for nothing. I didn't spend six hours a day practicing in the Florida sun at the age of nine for nothing. I didn't sleep in little cots for three years, eating oatmeal out of a packet while playing in the middle of nowhere for nothing. All this has helped me build character and there's no better asset than being able to stand up for yourself."
It all began with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Sharapova's parents lived 100 miles away in Gomel, Belarus, and Yelena became pregnant with Maria three months after the explosion. Worried about radiation, the couple moved to the industrial town of Nyagan in western Siberia, and Maria was born the next year.
Yuri worked in the oil fields for four years and saved enough money to move the family to the resort of Sochi, the hometown of former world No. 1 player Yevgeny Kafelnikov and site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, on the Black Sea.
One day when Maria was 4, she got bored watching her father play tennis and picked up a racket. Veteran coach Yuri Yutkin was amazed by her hand-eye coordination and offered to work with her. Kafelnikov obtained a child-sized racket, not easy to come by during the breakup of the Soviet Union, for her.
When Maria was 6, Martina Navratilova spotted her hitting balls at a clinic during the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Impressed, Navratilova recommended that Maria train at the Bollettieri academy.
Yuri worked odd jobs in Florida to pay for Maria's lessons until she was old enough to be admitted to the academy. It would be two years before Yelena could join them.
At 9, Sharapova earned a scholarship to live and train at the academy. She endured constant teasing from roommates twice her age.
"She was very thin and had something very few have," Bollettieri said. "She was a fierce competitor with tremendous focus. When she was 12, (Tatiana) Golovin, (Jelena) Jankovic and Sharapova were here at the same time. Maria scared the s--- out of them.
"She is where she is because she's very disciplined. She doesn't pray for you to miss. She goes for her shot. She has had tremendous adversity with her shoulder injury, and she has fought her way through it."
Bollettieri also credits Sharapova's father.
"Her daddy did a great job. He didn't know his fanny from his elbow when he came here. But he was smart enough to listen to me and the other coaches. He knew when to get out," Bollettieri said.
Sharapova won the girls 16-and-under title of the Eddie Herr Championships at 13, made her professional debut at 14 and won her first WTA tournament at 16.
Showing uncommon poise, Sharapova upset top seed and two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 for the 2004 Wimbledon title. Sharapova added the 2006 U.S. Open and 2008 Australian Open crowns before having surgery and missing 10 months.
Sharapova has struggled with her serve since then but pronounced her shoulder fit during a recent conference call. She was encouraged by reaching the Wimbledon final, in which she lost to Petra Kvitova, a 6-foot left-hander from the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4.
"It gives me a tremendous amount of confidence that I've been doing something right in the last few months and I've been getting better," said Sharapova, who also reached the French Open semifinals on clay, her worst surface, in June.
Bollettieri was less sanguine.
"Maria Sharapova got whacked (in the Wimbledon final)," he wrote in the London-based Independent newspaper. "I have never, ever seen that before, and this is a girl I've been watching since she was 9 years old. Kvitova absolutely knocks the stuffing out of the ball.
"By the end of the match, Maria was five to eight feet behind the baseline. I've never seen her pushed like that before, and there was nothing she could do about it. We have seen a new power emerge in the women's game."
It's not Sharapova's nature to give up, though. Reflecting at Wimbledon on her injury layoff, she said: "I've had many opportunities to say that I've had enough or that I've achieved plenty, more than I ever thought I would. Yet I still felt there was something missing. I still felt there was a lot more inside of me when I wanted to play.
"I did many things," continued Sharapova, who enjoys reading and stamp-collecting in her spare time. "I worked on many projects, and I spent holidays with friends and family (whom) maybe I wouldn't get a chance to (see) in a regular tennis season. But at the end of the day, those didn't mean anything compared to what it means to win tennis matches."
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