Experience Wins Out

I was so caught up in the Federdrama last week I almost totally forgot to cover what was one of the most remarkable women's finals of the year. Let me remedy that now.

In Osaka, Tamarine Tanasugarn beat Kimiko Date Krumm in the oldest women's final I can think of, and, I would hazard to guess, the oldest women's final ever. They have a combined age of 73 and between them managed to beat a whole handful of awesome and much younger players en route to the title. Date Krumm bagged the scalps of Stosur and Peer, while Tanasugarn took out Bartoli. Not so shabby. Not so shabby at all.

It would have been awesome if Date Krumm could have won this won - it is her home tournament, after all - but there was no way this was not going to be a feelgood final. Women's tennis has traditionally been the bailiwick of teenage wunderkids like Hingis and Sharapova, and while that is a story in and of itself, there is something very heartwarming of the triumph of experience.

I didn't see the match and so I can't comment on the quality of it, but when two women like Kimiko and Tamarine can keep pace with people who are, in some cases, more than twenty years their junior... not only keep pace but beat them... well, that's pretty awesome. I don't have too much more to say except this was an awesome match. With awesomeness. Covered in a luscious awesome sauce. And I hope Kimiko and Tamarine keep rocking on and showing the young 'uns how it's done.