Martina Hingis:

• "I am not a machine. Today Amanda just played better than me. We had very long rallies and she forced me to make errors. I had my chances but I just didn't take advantage of those opportunities and, as I said, she played better than I did"
• The hulking Davenport may be the biggest obstacle for Hingis, but the player she least wants to face in a potential five-set final is diminutive, energetic South African Coetzer.
  "I hope it's not going to be like, Amanda Coeter on the other side playing a five-setter," she mused.

Steffi Graf:

• Q. As the draw was being made on Thursday, the longer it took for Amanda to be drawn out in her section of seeds, everybody was thinking, Coetzer/Graf again? Have you ever thought about anyone like that, "Not her again," in your career?
  STEFFI GRAF: No. Actually, when I decided in Berlin to play in Strasbourg, I realized there was a good chance of meeting her in the semifinals in Strasbourg, I was looking forward to it. At that point I'm not thinking, "Oh, no, not again." I was actually really looking forward to it. That's a good sign when Irealize that I want to play her again, having that kind of attitude. I knew that would be good, especially before a tournament like Roland Garros, to play somebody that's so patient, really plays well in the moment. It was a good test for me.

Monica Seles:

• "She is in great physical shape, very strong mentally, has great strokes."
• "Amanda is one of the most athletic athletes on the tour. I will have to stay very focused to beat her."
• Q: Monica, how do you explain your success against Amanda (Coetzer) when she's been doing so well against a lot of other players?
  MONICA SELES: Oh, gosh, I don't know. I mean, I wonder that question myself a lot of times. I really don't know. But, I mean, the last few times I played her, yeah, I like her style of game a little bit more would be the only thing I could say. Maybe I've been luckier a little bit. She seems to have the number for all the No. 1 players.

Lindsay Davenport:

• "I think Amanda is very nice and I think she's done very well the last couple years."

Irina Spirlea:

• "It's always tough when you play with Amanda. It's tough to win easy against her. I don't know anyone who beats her, like one and one. Even if you beat her one and one, you still have to play for two hours. I'm happy with the way I played. Beating Amanda gives you a lot of confidence because she's one of the toughest players, one of the strongest players on the tour right now. You need a lot of patience to beat her. She's not going to give you a lot of free points."

Natasha Zvereva:

• Q: Toughest competitor?
  NATASHA ZVEREVA: Amanda Coetzer. She's just a little fireball. Full of energy. Never gives up. Ain't over till it's over."

Joanette Kruger:

• Q: I wanted to know because there's so many people here from Toronto that are from South Africa. So many want to know after apartheid in South Africa, are you and Amanda Coetzer considered ambassadors for the game because for so many years tennis tournaments were foreboding South Africa competing. I don't know about the WTA, but I know at one time the men's tournament couldn't go to South Africa to have a tournament anymore. Has there been a change politically in South Africa?
  JOANETTE KRUGER: Yeah. There's a lot of development going into the underprivileged kids. More of the money is going into that area, so they don't really have any money for tournaments and those kind of stuff. They're even having trouble with the Federation Cup, that kind of money is also a problem. I think that the Tennis Federation has always been mismanaged, and they've always been in debt, unfortunately, but the problem is they're not promoting the game very well in South Africa, like giving Amanda and Wayne and the top players enough exposure and making like underprivileged kids want to be heroes like they are. I think they're not doing that enough so that they don't get enough sponsorship money to improve the game enough in South Africa. I definitely think so.
• Q: If Coetzer wins there are going to be two South African players in QF. Did South African tennis change?
  JOANETTE KRUGER: Yes, everything changed in South Africa over the last few years. Unfortunately the financial situation is not good. The Federation is trying to find sponsors and is helping develop tennis in poor areas. Amanda’s success means a lot to South African tennis. That is going to attract sponsors. That is very important especially for women’s tennis. We don’t have many tournaments in South Africa and have to go abroad to play for long periods of time.

"...I wasn't surprised. I watched him during the pre-match team talk and you could see it in his eyes. Rod Marsh used to call it the eye of the tiger - from the Rocky theme.

It is fascinating to me how often it is the slightly less talented person who truly has it - and therefore truly makes it.

Amanda Coetzer has the eye. Again she amply demonstrated the point in Paris this week. She's not quite as talented as some of the other girls, but her determination - her eye of the tiger - has taken her far past the level that talent alone would have ordained for her.

If Wayne Ferreira had a quarter of her fight, he'd be invincible.

Unlike talent, I don't think courage is in-born. You can make a conscious decision to be brave - to face the challenge and not to back down.

I have often wondered if too much talent is not a burden in the end. If you're not used to fighting for success, it is probably that much harder to find the resources when things are tough.

What an inspiration they are. Those with the eye. Not just on the sports fields, but through life - for every walk of life has these special people. For every battle they lose they win three. Not by luck, not by talent, but by wanting it more, fighting harder, training harder, being tougher.

Give me a person like that anytime."