Kimiko Date brought the curtain down on her storied tennis career after a first-round 6-0, 6-0 loss to Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic at the Japan Women's Open on Tuesday.
Date, who announced late last month that this week's tournament at Ariake Tennis Forest Park would be the last of a career that began almost 30 years ago and included a 12-year hiatus, was outclassed from start to finish by world No. 67 Krunic and managed to score only 13 points.
But Date, who returned from a 16-month injury layoff earlier this year and has been hampered by knee and shoulder problems, soon shrugged off the defeat and turned her attention to the home crowd to say one last goodbye before heading into retirement two weeks short of her 47th birthday.
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