Japan’s Kimiko Date calls time on tennis career ahead of 47th birthday

Kimiko Date has been invited to play in next month’s Japan Women’s Open, barely two weeks before she turns 47, and wrote on her blog that it would be her last appearance

Japan’s Kimiko Date called time on her tennis career at the age of 46 on Monday, saying she was no longer able to perform at the best of her abilities due to physical issues and had decided to listen to the “inner voice” telling her it was time to quit.

Kimiko Date will retire from tennis just a few weeks before her 47th birthday. (Getty Images)

The former world number four has been invited to play in next month’s Japan Women’s Open, barely two weeks before she turns 47, and wrote on her blog that it would be her last appearance.

Date made a comeback to the court in May after undergoing multiple surgeries, including a knee cartilage transplant earlier this year.

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“I was determined to continue my challenge until the day I could no longer ignore my inner voice,” she wrote, saying that while her knee was not giving her pain an old shoulder injury had begun to act up.

Date initially retired in 1996 but returned to competition 12 years later in 2008. She spent a further 16 months on the sidelines until her May comeback.

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She won her first Japan Open title in 1992, the same year defending champion Christina McHale of the United States was born. She said she felt unable to push herself enough to compete with players in their twenties.

“Maybe you don’t need to endure the pain ... These thoughts have been circling my mind,” she wrote.

Date won eight WTA titles, the last in 2009, and reached the semi-finals of three grand slam tournaments.