Date-Krumm becomes oldest woman to reach Wimbledon last 32

At 42 DateKrumm39s presence in the last 32 means she has surpassed Britain39s Virginia Wade who reached the same stage aged 39 years 362 days in 1985 u00a0The Japanese player is back in the last 32 at Wimbledon for the first time since her run to the semifinals 17 years ago Japan39s Kimiko DateKrumm celebrates beating Romania39s Alexandra Cadantu during their second round women39s singles match on day four of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament at the All England Club in Wimbledon southwest London PicAFP And the reward for DateKrumm who also reached the third round at the Australian Open in January is a clash with world number one Williams who brushed aside French qualifier Caroline Garcia to give the Japanese player a first career meeting with the fivetime Wimbledon champion quotI love Wimbledon I have many good memoriesquot said DateKrumm u00a0quotIt39s very special for me I39m very happy to be the third round even at 42 I think it is amazingquot u00a0Williams admitted she has tremendous respect for DateKrumm39s longevity even if the 31yearold insists there is no chance she will still be playing at the same age as the Japanese star quotI39ve never played her but I have so much respect for herquot Serena said quotShe39s so inspiring to be playing such high level tennis at her age And she39s a real danger on the grass court I know that u00a0quotI didn39t see myself playing at 31 so I definitely do not see myself playing at 42quot As well as admiring DateKrumm39s passion for the game Serena also has a healthy awareness of the potential threat she poses to her title bid quotKimiko has great hand eye coordination She returns unbelievable shotsquot Serena said quotIt doesn39t matter how hard you hit it she sees the ball and gets it back quotShe has great hands has a wonderful great volley comes to the net a lot which on grass can be tricky She plays really flat so the ball stays really low quotI definitely will have to be ready It39s for sure not going to be easy but I39ll be readyquot u00a0While Serena has never faced DateKrumm before she will seek advice from her sister Venus who is absent from this year39s tournament due to injury but won an epic threeset battle against the veteran at Wimbledon in 2011 quotI did see that match I think I lost four years of my life watching that matchquot Serena added u00a0quotSo I will definitely be talking to Venus and figuring out what I can do to do the best that I can in my next matchquot Cadantu is ranked just three places below world number 84 DateKrumm and had shocked Austrian 28th seed Tamira Paszek in the first round u00a0But the 23yearold was appearing in the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time In contrast DateKrumm was playing in her 104th Grand Slam match and competing at Wimbledon for the 12th time u00a0DateKrumm enjoyed a fairytale run to the Wimbledon semifinals in 1996 before suddenly announcing her retirement She returned to the tour 12 years later and enjoyed two notable landmarks becoming the oldest player to beat a top10 opponent and the second oldest to win a WTA Tour title when she triumphed in Seoul aged 38