Kimiko is the oldest player at Japan Women’s Open

CAIRO – 3 August 2017: Nearly close to turning 47, former number four world tennis player Kimiko Date has been invited to play in next month’s Japan Women’s Open, the Japan Tennis Association said on Wednesday.

The Kyoto native had been awarded a sponsors’ invite for the September 11, 2017 event at Tokyo’s Ariake Tennis Forest Park, Kyodo News reported.

Date, who initially retired in 1996 but returned to competition in 2008, has spent 16 months on the sidelines following a couple of knee surgeries before launching another comeback in May.

A four-time winner of the tournament when it was known as the Japan Open, Date will be joined by compatriots Naomi Osaka, Nao Hibiano, Risa Ozaki and Misaki Doi in this year’s edition of the tournament.

Kimiko won her first Japan Open title in 1992, the same year defending Christina McHale champion of the United States.