Amanda Coetzer (born 22 October 1971, inHoopstad) is a South African former professionaltennis player. Coetzer finished in theWTA rankings top 20 for ten consecutive seasons (1992–2001), peaking at world No. 3. She reached three Grand Slam semifinals (Australian Open1996 and1997,French Open 1997) and one Grand Slam doubles final (US Open 1993). 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 five-foot-two (1.58m) stature, she gained the nickname: "The Little Assassin".[1]
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 inHilton Head, South Carolina and was coached by Gavin Hopper, later byLori McNeil. As a photographer's model she appeared as aSunshine Girl in the Canadian Sun newspaper chain. She is married to the Hollywood film producerArnon Milchan.[2] They have two children, Shimon (born 2009) and Olivia (born 2011).[3]
In 1993, Coetzer won her first WTA Tour title in Melbourne, defeatingNaoko Sawamatsu in the final, and reached the final of theUS Open women's doubles withInés Gorrochategui.
At the Australian Open in 1996, Coetzer became the first South African woman in theOpen Era to reach aGrand Slam semifinal, where she lost in three sets toAnke 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 theGerman 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 championIva Majoli. She broke into the top 10 in June and top 5 in August, and inLeipzig Coetzer beatMartina Hingis, who by then had taken over the world No. 1 ranking. Coetzer won two singles titles that year – inBudapest andLuxembourg, reached 15 semifinals (or better) in total and was awarded the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award for a second time, theMost Improved Player andDiamond Aces awards (all WTA).
Coetzer won the biggest title of her career in 1998, at theCharleston Open. She also beatConchita Martínez on her way to a third quarterfinals showing at theUS Open.
In 1999, Coetzer defeated world No. 1,Lindsay Davenport, and world No. 4,Monica Seles, on her way to the final ofTokyo, thereby becoming the only player to ever defeat Graf, Hingis and Davenport while they were ranked number one.
In 2001, she qualified for her ninth consecutiveYear-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 inAcapulco in 2003, and her career prize-money earnings totalled $6 million.
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
^"All Star Tennis '99 (Nintendo 64)".Diario AS (in Spanish). 14 January 1999. Retrieved30 September 2023.You can choose between 12 characters to play, and the best of it is that eight of them will be tennis players who are well renowned in the world. We can see Conchita Martínez (Where is Arantxa?), Jonas Bjorkman, Richard Krajicek, Mark Philippoussis, Gustavo Kuerten, Jana Novotna, Michael Chang andAmanda Coetzer.