<div><p>Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm on Sunday became the oldest winner of a WTA event since Billie Jean King in 1983 by claiming the Korea Open title.</p><p>Date-Krumm upset Spain's second seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-3 for a famous victory.</p><p>She achieved the feat aged 38 years, 11 months and 30 days and is the second oldest winner since King, who won in Birmingham in 1983 when she was 39 years, seven months and 23 days.</p><p>It capped an incredible comeback for Date-Krumm, who reached world number four in 1995 before retiring a year later after finding the pressure of life on tour too much.</p><p>"My husband?s (German racing driver Michael Krumm) love and support was more important than anything. I was relaxed, mentally strong, and physically I was also doing well," said Date-Krumm.</p><p>"With all the tennis, I was of course tired, but it wasn?t bad. I could move well enough to play my game.</p><p>"For the past year, I didn?t really know if I could really compete well on the WTA Tour, but it looks okay now. I?ll have to be careful not to get any injuries, but I think I?ll be able to keep playing for a couple of years."</p><p>Medina Garrigues said: "When I was on court, I didn?t think she has thirty-eight years old, almost thirty-nine. Physically, she?s very good.</p><p>"She had five matches in a row this week, three in three sets, and she was running today like the first day. I don?t care about the age if she?s in good form. She?s very fit."</p><p>Date-Krumm returned to the tour in 2008 but crashed at the first hurdle in all eight of her WTA Tour events since.</p><p>She finally got over the hump against Korean wildcard Lee Ye-Ra here.</p><p>It looked like the honeymoon was over against Alisa Kleybanova in the second round, but facing a match point down Date-Krumm rallied for a three-set victory.</p><p>She then beat top seed Daniela Hantuchova in the quarter-finals and dispatched defending champion Maria Kirilenko in the semis.</p><p>Against Medina Garrigues, Date-Krumm faced her most tenacious and consistent opponent yet, but she converted the only break point of the first set and held the momentum in the second set for a 6-3, 6-3 win.</p><p>Date-Krumm now has eight singles titles on the Tour, her first seven all coming between 1992 and 1996.</p><p>Five came in Tokyo -- one at the Toray Pan Pacific Open (1995) and four at the Japan Open (1992, 1993, 1994, 1996). Her other two titles came in Sydney (1994) and San Diego (1996).</p><p>Date-Krumm now faces a test of her stamina as she is due to face Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak in the first round of the two million dollar Tokyo event on Monday.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=59897341&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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