Marvelous Kimiko Date Krumm – クルム伊達公子の健闘

40歳の誕生日の勝利、そして前夜は前回覇者のシャラポワを粘り抜いて破る快挙。東レ・パンパシフィック・テニスのクルム伊達公子の試合ぶりは見事だ。元々彼女の攻撃的ストロークはトップクラス・プレーヤーも手こずるものだったが、苦しい試合展開の中でゲームを修正できる柔軟性に彼女の進化を感じる。トーナメントに勝ち残る体力という課題はあるが、行けるところまで行ってほしい。


Kimiko Date Krumm celebrated her 40th birthday by winning against Daniela Hantuchova by 2-6, 6-0, 4-0 yesterday, and the day before had she even more excitingly the victory over Maria Sharapova, the defending champion of Toray Pan Pacific Open.
At her 20’s, Kimiko’s aggressive baseline strokes had always been a tough confrontation even for the top ranked players, and now she seems to have achieved the flexibility to rebuild the games with tactical adjustments when things are not going well with her. The remaining challenge is her physical reserve to continue the tournament toward the finalist, and I wish here the best luck!