Early Career
Date started playing tennis when she was 7 years old. By the age of 14, she reached the semi-finals in the All-Japan Junior Under-14 championship. During the subsequent year, she won 3rd place in the Japanese National Junior High School Tennis Championship.
In 1986 while attending Sonoda-Joshi High School, Date won the All-Japan Junior Under-16 Championship in doubles. In 1987 she reached the semi-finals in the All-Japan Tennis Championship.
In 1988 Date won the Invitational All-Japan Junior Indoor Championship (for both women single and doubles), the Japanese National High School Athlete Meet (for singles and doubles), the Japanese All-Japan Junior Tennis Tournament Under-18 (for singles and doubles), and the International Women Circuit, and Masters. She made her Grand Slam debut at the 1989 French Open, losing in the second round. In 1989 she also made her Fed Cup debut.
Read more about this topic: Kimiko Date-Krumm
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