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Coetzer/Broad vs. Roditi/Wild, delayed
Coetzer/Steck lt. Appelmans/Oremans (15), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
Amanda was again due to play two matches, but for some unexplained reason, her mixed doubles match was called off, and shifted to the next day.
After leaving the information desk - where we went to inquire what happened to the mixed doubles match - we went back to the outside courts to see who else was playing. By luck, we stumbled upon Coetzer hitting up with Jessica Steck, before their women's doubles match. Amanda seemed much happier than she had been in her training session on Day 3. Pam Shriver came on briefly to speak with Brady, and Amanda greeted her with a smile. Coetzer only hit for about half an hour, before signing some autographs and leaving the court.
It probably would have been a tough proposition to ask the newly formed pairing of Coetzer/Steck to beat the fifteenth seeded combination of Sabine Appelmans and Miriam Oremans. Before this tournament, Amanda had played with Jessica only once before, in a Fed Cup tie versus Austria in 1997. However, they did give the more experienced team a scare. Coetzer/Steck broke serve twice in the first set, and also had grabbed an early break in the second. I was speaking to a girl sitting next to me, who had watched Coetzer and Steck's first round match, and she said that Amanda had played brilliantly in that match, and wasn't playing nearly as well here. But, IMO, all four players were doing well, and it was a close match with a few points making the difference. It was the first that I had ever seen of Jessica, and I thought that she was a very solid player, but had not yet developed an attacking weapon. She is only young though, and with Amanda asking her to play doubles in a few tournaments in the US, it can only help her confidence.
Amanda and Jessica probably weren't helped by the arrival of the Dutch fans, who were very vocal in their support of Miriam Oremans. However, I have to say that they were very fair in the support of all four players, unlike some of the wankers who attended Anna Kournikova's matches and cheered the mistakes of her opponents. As Amanda and Jessica left the court, they were serenaded by a rendition of 'We love you Coetzer, we do...' Their presence probably made for a more light-hearted match, and Sabine and Miriam stuck around for about twenty minutes afterwards, to sign autographs and chat with their fans.
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