Amanda was born on October 22nd, 1971, in Hoopstad, South Africa. Her parents are Nico and Saska. Amanda also has three sisters, Isabel, Martelle and Nicola. Coetzer started playing against a wall being too young to play with her two older sisters. Her father then bought her a hitting machine and would set targets for her to practice. She practiced so much that she eventually made some money out of it and that's how her career started! In 1992 Coetzer climbed 50 places in the world rankings to 17. She made the semi-finals of two big tournaments, in Boca Raton and at the Italian Open. She also claimed two doubles titles, one in Toronto and the other in Puerto Rico. Tennis Magazine named her the year’s Most Improved Female Player. Coetzer finally broke through in 1993, winning her first WTA Tour title at the Melbourne Open. She added another title in Tokyo, upsetting second-seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the semi-finals and beating hometown favourite Kimoko Date in the finals. She edged up to 15 in the world rankings. At Toronto in 1995 Coetzer made it through to the finals, where she was beaten by Monica Seles, but her path to the title decider included three huge wins, over top-seed Graf, fourth-seed Jana Novotna and fifth-seed Mary Pierce.
Coetzer achieved another first early in 1996, getting through to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam event for the first time at the Australian Open. She also reached the final of the tour event in Oklahoma City. Playing with Mary Pierce, she won the doubles event at the Nichirei tournament in Tokyo. 1997 proved to be the best year of Coetzer's career as she rose to a career-high third position in the world rankings. At the Australian Open she again beat Steffi Graf. She went on to reach the final four of the tournament for the second year in succession. Later in the year, Coetzer handed the German her worst defeat ever defeating her in the quarterfinals of the French Open.The South African fighter then moved into the world’s top 10 for the first time when she won the WTA event in Budapest. She also won the doubles title with Alexandra Fusai. After her memorable year three awards followed for Coetzer, the most awards received by a single player in the history of the WTA Tour. She was named Most Improved Player, picked up the Diamond ACES award recognising player/fan interaction and, for the second time, laid claim to the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship award.
In 1999 she was the only player bowing out in the fourth round of the Grand Slam event. Then, in Tokyo, she beat world number one Lindsay Davenport and former world number one Monica Seles on her way to the finals, where she lost to Hingis. She made the finals at Antwerp and in Munich at the German Open in 2000, and made the semi-finals in New Haven and Oklahoma City. Coetzer reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2001, her first last eight in a Grand Slam event since the 1998 US Open. In February she won her eighth WTA title, defeating world number 10 Elena Dementieva in Acapulco. In Hamburg she made the final four, and the following week she recorded her five-hundredth career win, defeating Meghann Shaughnessy. In 2003 she landed the final victory of her career, capturing the Mexican Open for the second time, in the holiday playground of Acapulco.
In total, Coetzer won nine singles and nine doubles titles and accumulated over $5.5-million in career earnings. She was also one of the more popular players on the WTA tour. She represented South Africa at three Olympic Games - Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney - and played on the South African Fed Cup team as its number one player. Her grit, determination and give-it-all attitude continue to made her one of the more popular players in the game.
