Point of no return

Uh... as a former high school tennis athlete extraordinaire I can tell yout that Date is a monster. You keyboard warriors don't know how athletic and precise she was in before her retirement or how ridiculously difficult it is for her to have come back and break top 50 ranking in women's tennis this day and age.

That really is a good picture. I can't believe Kimiko is already 39. It seems like yesterday, she was the Japanese Wonderkinder.

Taka

Like smithinjapan & some others I felt this was a lovely action shot with a lot of contrast in it.

Well even if she was out of retirement (do tennis players really retire??) having made he way up to where she was THAT was a challeng for the Russian players are a hard group of top rate tennis players in this world.

Her shadow is too fat!

Not bad for an old girl. Shows how silly it was for her to retire in 1996.

Now that Date is back on the scene, perhaps we will see her more often in pic of the day, perhaps promoting a new soft drink.

I watched this match on WOWOW. When she took the second set the audience gave her a lot of applaud. In the third set Kuzy regained momentum again whereas Date kind of lost power.

Kimiko Krumm is the class of Japanese female tennis.

More of these aesthetically appealing shots which live up to the moniker of "pic of the day" and no more of the lame PR stuff.

Yes its a cracking shot. Like the angle especially. Her facial expression. The blue, green and deep pink. The postion of the racquet and ball and the little bit of blur that it has. She looks good.

People can play tennis until they feel like it !!!! Yesterday I saw a group of "oldies" maybe (65 years old) play tennis for 2 hours.

It's all about techique and wearing the other player. I tired tennis player makes mistakes. It's commonsense !!!!

This photo is an amazing shot -- colour contrast is fantastic.

Alot of negativity on this thread. I'm not a tennis fan, however, to play a sport at a pro level, the amount of dedication and commitment/will power you need is amazing. For her to keep pushing herself so hard at her age is a champion in my book.

I don't think being ranked 50th in the world is washed-up just yet, IMHO.

I met her during one of her practices before US Open in her younger days. She was a breakout player and I was able to get her signature after practice. She was tiny and extremely nice about giving signatures to fans while being drenched in sweat and still huffing from practice.

Date is washed-up!

Yeh, everybody comes out of retirement this days! Tennis players, rock stars... Have you noticed how in the last 2 years there is increase in "come back" tours of old groups and performers to Japan?

Anyway wish her luck! Besides talented people had the gene to go so up - see her thin ankles! Looking at her shapes can't think of anything less than a race horse - top class!

And the photograph is really great. Very well pointed by islandview - thanks - I missed the shadow... And on top of it all those shapes form T - how you translate this?

some14some and betterdays, you two DO know of course that she retired at 25 years old? The fact that she came out of retirement 12 years later and won a WTA tour title last year at the age of 38 is an inspiration for others.

Krumm got kreamed.

Now that's a great pic!

CoinLaundry -- got it. That's cool.

did you catch the fact that she lost? So her "next match" may not be for at least a couple of weeks, at the next tournament

I did catch it (your repeating is has made me appreciate the gravity of the situation though) hence wishing her all the best for her next match. Not her "next match." What is that supposed to mean? Can't you just wish her all the best?

39 and still playing = pushing your luck too far

Coinlaundry -- did you catch the fact that she lost? So her "next match" may not be for at least a couple of weeks, at the next tournament. And I will join the group of posters stating that she is very attractive. It is really refreshing to see a slim, tanned, and toned Japanese woman, instead of the constant stream of thin, but flabby, white-as-a-ghost types.

She still looks good... Her tennis game, well... It's better than mine, anyway :)

Excessive Stretching, retirement long overdue.

This is a great sports photograph showing the split second action of a tennis match. It is also a wonderful art photograph with various pleasingly intriguing aspects: view angle, colors and lines (from her body, her shadow and the tennis court markings).

I am sure many JT readers will find other ‘pleasingly intriguing aspects’ related to the player’s form and body structure to comment on. Who can offer their best viewpoint?

I wish Krumm all the best in her next match.