Amanda Coetzer

Amanda Coetzer (born 22 October 1971) is a South African former professional tennis player. She was ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, achieved in November 1997. Coetzer won nine WTA Tour titles in singles and nine in doubles, and reached three major singles semifinals (at the 1996 and 1997 Australian Opens and the 1997 French Open) and one major doubles final (at the 1993 US Open). Coetzer earned a reputation for regularly beating players who were ranked higher than her. By virtue of scoring so many upset wins in spite of her 5'2" (1.58m) stature, she gained the nickname: "The Little Assassin".

Personal life Coetzer was born in Hoopstad, South Africa, to Nico and Suska Coetzer. She started playing tennis at the age of six. During her career, she resided primarily in Hilton Head, South Carolina and was coached by Gavin Hopper, later by Lori McNeil. As a photographer's model she appeared as a Sunshine Girl in the Canadian Sun newspaper chain. She is married to the Hollywood film producer Arnon Milchan. They have two children, Shimon (born 2009) and Olivia (born 2011).

In 1998, Coetzer was featured in All Star Tennis '99, a tennis video game released on PlayStation and Nintendo 64.

Career Coetzer's breakthrough year was in 1992. She beat world No. 3, Gabriela Sabatini, in Boca Raton, and Jennifer Capriati at the Italian Open, entering into the top 20 in August.

In 1993, Coetzer won her first WTA Tour title in Melbourne, defeating Naoko Sawamatsu in the final, and reached the final of the US Open women's doubles with Inés Gorrochategui.

At the Canada Masters in 1995, Coetzer defeated three players ranked in the world's top 5 – Steffi Graf (No. 1), Jana Novotná (No. 4) and Mary Pierce (No. 5) – before finally losing to Monica Seles in the final. The defeat of Graf ended a 32-match winning-streak for the German. At the end of the year, Coetzer was awarded the WTA Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (voted for by other players).

At the Australian Open in 1996, Coetzer became the first South African woman in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam semifinal, where she lost in three sets to Anke Huber.

In 1997, she reached the Australian Open semifinals for the second consecutive year, defeating world No. 1, Steffi Graf, in the fourth round. She beat Graf for a second time that year at the German Open in May (inflicting Graf's worst-ever loss: 6–0, 6–1 in just 56 minutes), and then, in the quarterfinals of the French Open, she defeated Graf yet again to become one of only four to defeat her more than once in Grand Slam matches. Coetzer lost in the French Open semifinals to eventual champion Iva Majoli. She broke into the top 10 in June and top 5 in August, and in Leipzig Coetzer beat Martina Hingis, who by then had taken over the world No. 1 ranking. Coetzer won two singles titles that year – in Budapest and Luxembourg, reached 15 semifinals (or better) in total and was awarded the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award for a second time, the Most Improved Player and Diamond Aces awards (all WTA).

Coetzer won the biggest title of her career in 1998, at the Charleston Open. She also beat Conchita Martínez on her way to a third quarterfinals showing at the US Open.

In 1999, Coetzer defeated world No. 1, Lindsay Davenport, and world No. 4, Monica Seles, on her way to the final of Tokyo, thereby becoming the first player to ever defeat Graf, Hingis and Davenport while they were ranked number one.

Coetzer teamed-up with Wayne Ferreira to win the 2000 Hopman Cup for South Africa. She beat world No. 3, Venus Williams, in Hamburg and also reached the final of the German Open in Berlin.

In 2001, she qualified for her ninth consecutive Year-end championships, and finished her tenth consecutive season in the world's top 20.

Coetzer retired in 2004. Overall, she won 18 WTA tournament titles, nine in singles and nine in doubles. Her final singles title was won in Acapulco in 2003, and her career prize-money earnings totalled $6 million.

Grand Slam finals Doubles: 1 runner–up ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1993 US Open Hard Inés Gorrochategui Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková 6–4, 6–2

WTA career finals Singles: 21 (9 titles, 12 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (0–0)Tier I (1–3)Tier II (1–5)Tier III, IV & V (7–4)Finals by surfaceHard (2–6)Grass (0–0)Clay (6–3)Carpet (1–3)

Doubles: 23 (9 titles, 14 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (0–1)Tier I (1–2)Tier II (3–7)Tier III, IV & V (5–4)Finals by surfaceHard (4–6)Grass (0–0)Clay (5–7)Carpet (0–1) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. Apr 1992 Taranto Trophy, Italy Clay Inés Gorrochategui Rachel McQuillan Radka Zrubáková 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(0)Loss 1. Jul 1992 Austrian Open Clay Wiltrud Probst Alexia Dechaume Florencia Labat 3–6, 3–6Loss 2. Sep 1992 Taipei Championship, Taiwan Hard Cammy MacGregor Jo-Anne Faull Julie Richardson 6–3, 3–6, 2–6Win 2. Oct 1992 Puerto Rico Open Hard Elna Reinach Gigi Fernández Kathy Rinaldi 6–2, 4–6, 6–2Loss 3. Apr 1993 Amelia Island Championships, U.S. Clay Inés Gorrochategui Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere Leila Meskhi 6–3, 3–6, 4–6Loss 4. Aug 1993 US Open Hard Inés Gorrochategui Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková 4–6, 2–6Loss 5. Sep 1993 Tokyo International Championships, Japan Hard Linda Wild Lisa Raymond Chanda Rubin 4–6, 1–6Loss 6. Nov 1993 San Jose Open, United States Carpet (i) Inés Gorrochategui Patty Fendick Meredith McGrath 2–6, 0–6Loss 7. Apr 1994 Amelia Island Championships, U.S. Clay Inés Gorrochategui Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 2–6, 7–6(6), 4–6Win 3. May 1994 Prague Open, Czech Republic Clay Linda Wild Kristie Boogert Laura Golarsa 6–4, 3–6, 6–2Win 4. Apr 1995 Amelia Island Championships, U.S. Clay Inés Gorrochategui Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf 6–2, 3–6, 6–2Win 5. May 1995 German Open Clay Inés Gorrochategui Larisa Neiland Gabriela Sabatini 4–6, 7–6(3), 6–2Loss 8. Sep 1995 Tokyo International Championships Hard Linda Wild Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernández 3–6, 2–6Win 6. Sep 1996 Tokyo International Championships Hard Mary Pierce Park Sung-hee Wang Shi-ting 6–1, 7–6(5)Win 7. Apr 1997 Budapest Grand Prix, Hungary Clay Alexandra Fusai Eva Martincová Elena Wagner 6–3, 6–1Loss 9. May 1998 Italian Open Clay Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez 6–7(1), 4–6Loss 10. Feb 1999 U.S. Indoor Championships Hard (i) Jessica Steck Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs 3–6, 4–6Loss 11. Apr 1999 Barclay Cup Hamburg, Germany Clay Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 2–6, 1–6Loss 12. Sep 1999 Tokyo Princess Cup, Japan Hard Jelena Dokic Conchita Martínez Patricia Tarabini 7–6(5), 4–6, 2–6Loss 13. May 2000 German Open Clay Corina Morariu Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–3, 2–6, 6–7(7)Win 8. Feb 2001 U.S. Indoor Championships Hard (i) Lori McNeil Janet Lee Wynne Prakusya 6–3, 2–6, 6–0Loss 14. May 2001 Internationaux de Strasbourg, France Clay Lori McNeil Silvia Farina Elia Iroda Tulyaganova 1–6, 6–7(0)Win 9. Sep 2001 Brasil Open Hard Lori McNeil Nicole Arendt Patricia Tarabini 6–7(8), 6–2, 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Best Grand Slam results details

Wins over top 10 players Season 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total Wins 2 3 2 4 2 9 2 3 4 1 134

Longest winning streaks First 8–match singles winning streak (1992) TournamentCategoryStart dateSurfaceOpponentRankScore–Family Circle Cup, United StatesTier I30 March 1992Clay3R Gabriela Sabatini (1) No. 35–7, 4–6No. 351Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone, GreeceTeam event 13 April 1992 Clay - Anne KremerNo. 6–0, 6–0No. 352 - Helene HolterNo. 8286–0, 6–03 - Gina NilandNo. 5146–1, 6–14Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone, Greece - Ljudmila PavlovNo. 6–3, 6–05 - Barbara MulejNo. 1416–4, 4–6, 6–16 - Nadin ErcegovićNo. 1317–5, 4–6, 6–27Ilva Trophy, Italy Tier V 27 April 1992 Clay1R Cristina Salvi (WC) No. 180 6–3, 6–2No. 3282R Nathalie Herreman No. 115 4–6, 6–0, 7–5–QF Linda FerrandoNo. 954–6, 2–6

Second 8–match singles winning streak (1994)

Third 8–match singles winning streak (1997)

Fourth 8–match singles winning streak (1998)