Kimiko Date-Krumm Oldest Woman to Win at Aussie Open

Serving Time: An unshakeable first serve helps a veteran break the age barrier at Melbourne Park.

Kimiko Date-Krumm, 42, upset 12th-seeded Nadia Petrova Tuesday to become the oldest woman to win a singles match at the Australian Open.

Date-Krumm beat Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-0 in the first round in just 64 minutes. The win was the result of making 75% of her first serves while Petrova donated 38 unforced errors.

“She’s a tough cookie,” said Petrova. “She played really well today. She didn’t give me any room to come back.”

The win was an outstanding result for the 100th-ranked Date-Krumm whose best results were achieved nearly two decades ago. She was ranked No. 3 in the world in singles in November of 1995. She reached the semifinals of the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon, respectively, in 1994, 1995 and 1996, and the quarterfinals of the US Open in 1993 and 1994, only to retire in 1996.

It wasn’t until April 2008 — 12 years after retiring — that Date-Krumm returned to professional tennis at the age of 37. Five years later, she has no plans to retire despite not having gotten past the second round of a major since her comeback.

“Forty-two, it’s just a number,” she said. “My body is feeling good. My tennis was not so bad.”

Be that as it may, her age forced Date-Krumm – who stands 5-4 and weighs just 117 pounds — to endure several questions in her post-match interview about the secrets of her vitality and career longevity.

“I sleep a lot. I eat healthy foods. I drink a lot,” she said. “It’s simple life, that’s it. Nothing special.”

Date-Krumm won’t be surpassing Martina Navratilova as the oldest woman to have won a match at any Grand Slam for some time. Navratilova was 47 years, 8 months old when she won her first round match at the 2004 Wimbledon.

Date-Krumm’s opponent Nadia Petrova is much closer to her best tennis, having reached No. 3 in the WTA rankings in 2006. As of October Petrova is the top-ranked singles player among the WTA’s large contingent of Russian women.

Another younger Japanese, Kei Nishikori, 22, won his second-round match against Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq in straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday. In the first round the 18th-ranked Nishikori had overcome Romania’s Victor Hanescu 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. Nishikori reached the quarterfinals at last year’s Australian Open, the best result ever for a Japanese man.

China’s Li Na, the world’s highest-ranked Asian singles player, won her 2nd-round match against 57th-ranked Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-2, 7-5 Wednesday. She had also beaten her first-round opponent Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

Li had become only the 2nd person of Asian descent to win a major when she won the 2011 French Open — a feat achieved by Chinese American Michael Chang in 1989 at the age of 17. She was also a finalist at Melbourne Park last year. Li is currently ranked No. 6 in the WTA, down from her peak of No. 4 during the summer of 2011.