Kimiko Date Krumm made history and Shahar Peer won her second tournament in two weeks as the race hotted up for one of the places in the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions.

Kimiko, who was once a semi-finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open and reached as high as four in the world, won her first title in 13 years when she defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-3. In the meantime she retired, and then last year she un-retired and won four small ITF events before claiming her astonishing victory at the weekend in the final of the Hansol Korea Open. What made her run to the title all the more remarkable was that until last week she had failed to win a single Sony Ericsson WTA Tour main draw match during her comeback, although she won a considerable number of matches in the qualifying rounds.

But what put this triumph in the history books is that Kimiko, at just one day short of her 39th birthday, became the second oldest player ever to win a Tour title, beaten only by the legendary Billie Jean King who won in Birmingham at the age of 39 years and 7 months.

"My husband’s love and support was more important than anything," said Date Krumm, explaining how she accomplished her amazing achievement. "I was relaxed, mentally strong, and physically I was also doing well. With all the tennis, I was of course tired, but it wasn’t bad. I could move well enough to play my game. For the past year, I didn’t really know if I could really compete well on the WTA Tour, but it looks okay now. Here, I came back to win in matches. I could play my own game exactly as I wanted to. 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."

Meanwhile, Peer followed up her victory in Guangzhou by travelling to Uzbekistan and winning the Tashkent Open with a 6-3 6-4 win over local favourite Akgul Amanmuradova. The Israeli did not drop a set in the two weeks, and she is now one of the leading contenders for a place in the 12-player draw for the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. She is also one of just two players likely to qualify for Bali who have won multiple International Series titles. The other is Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who won in Bogota and Bastad. Those two players have just three events left this year, in Linz, Osaka and Luxembourg, to win a third International Series title and be eligible to bid for a fantastic $1,000,000 bonus if they can also win in Bali.

"I've played 10 matches in row without dropping a set, and that's a nice feeling," said Peer. "I'm happy I'm playing well. I had played Akgul four times before and knew her game fairly well, but I knew today would be difficult, so I tried to play my best and not give her any chances. I'm happy by father was with me these last two weeks, because I won both tournaments!"

The Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions will be held at the Bali International Convention Centre, The Westin Resort, Nusa Dua from 4th to 8th November, and will feature top Tour players and next generation champions competing in an innovative 12 woman round robin singles format. The top 10 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players who have won at least one International Series tournament during the year and who are not participating in singles at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships will qualify for the event, along with two wild cards. The 12-woman event will feature four groups of three players in a round robin format, then a single-elimination semi-finals and final.