Hopman Cup, Perth, Australia

Finals, Jan. 4: United States def. South Africa 2-1
Chanda Rubin, United States def. Amanda Coetzer, South Africa, 7-5, 6-2
Wayne Ferreira, South Africa def. Justin Gimelstob, United States 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
Rubin/Gimelstob, United States def. Ferreira/Coetzer, South Africa, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5

Jan. 3: South Africa def. Romania 2-1
Irina Spirlea, Romania def. Amanda Coetzer, South Africa, 7-5 4-6 1-6
Wayne Ferreira, South Africa def. Adrian Voinea, Romania, 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-4)
Ferreira/Coetzer, South Africa def. Voinea/Spirlea, Romania, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Jan. 1: South Africa def. Switzerland 2-1
Martina Hingis, Switzerland def. Amanda Coetzer, South Africa, 6-1, 6-2
Wayne Ferreira, South Africa def. Marc Rosset 6-0, 2-1 (retired)
Ferreira/Coetzer, South Africa def. Rosset/Hingis, Switzerland (forfeit)

Dec. 30: South Africa def. Germany 3-0
Amanda Coetzer def. Petra Begerow 6-0, 7-5
Wayne Ferreira def. Bernd Karbacher 6-4, 6-4
Coetzer/Ferreira, South Africa def. Karbacher/Begerow, Germany, 6-3, 6-4

Sydney International, (Jan. 6-12)

QF Doubles: L.Davenport/N.Zvereva (2) def. A.Coetzer/M.Pierce, 6-2, 6-1
1R Doubles: A.Coetzer/M.Pierce def. C.Rubin/B.Schultz, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0

Ford Australian Open (Jan. 13-26)

1R Doubles: G Fernandez/A Sanchez Vicario (1) def. A Coetzer/M Pierce, 6-3, 6-2

Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo (Jan. 27-Feb. 2)

IGA Tennis Classic, Oklahoma City (Feb. 17-23)

1R Doubles: L.Lee/J.Lee def. A.Coetzer/L.Davenport (1), 6-4, 7-5

Federation Cup Group II (March 1-2)

State Farm Evert Cup, Indian Wells (March 3-16)

Lipton Championships, Key Biscayne (March 17-30)

SF Doubles: Appelmans/Oremans (11) def. Coetzer/Huber, 6-4, 6-2
QF Doubles: Coetzer/Huber def. Arendt/Bollegraf (5), 6-2, 6-3
3R Doubles: Coetzer/Huber def. Neiland/Sukova (2), 6-0, 7-5
2R Doubles: Coetzer/Huber def. Farina/Schett (15), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
1R Doubles: Coetzer/Huber def. Sidot/Standlund, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Family Circle Magazine Cup, Hilton Head Island (March 31-April 6)

1R Doubles: R.Dragomir/I.Majoli def. A.Coetzer/I.Gorrochategui, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

Bausch & Lomb Championships, Amelia Island (April 7-13)

2R Doubles: K.Adams/C.Vis def. A.Coetzer/I.Gorrochategui, 7-6 (10), 6-3
1R Doubles: A.Coetzer/I.Gorrochategui def. L.Pleming/C.Wood, 6-1, 6-2

Lotto Ladies Open, Budapest (April 21-27)

Doubles Final: A.Coetzer/A.Fusai (1) def. E.Martincova./E.Wagner (3), 6-3, 6-1
SF Doubles: A.Coetzer/A.Fusai (1) def. P.Langrova/R.Zrubakova, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
QF Doubles: A.Coetzer/A.Fusai (1) def. V.Csurgo/P.Suarez, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
1R Doubles: A.Coetzer/A.Fusai (1) def. C.Cristea/C.Schnieder, 6-1. 6-4

Croatian Ladies Open, Bol (April 28-May 4)

SF Doubles: L.Montalvo/H.Nagyova def. A.Coetzer/M.Oremans (1), 6-0. 5-7, 7-5
QF Doubles: A.Coetzer/M.Oremans (1) def. E.Gagliardi/R.Jensen, 6-4, 6-0
1R Doubles: A.Coetzer/M.Oremans (1) def. D.Chladkova/R.Bobkova, 7-5, 6-3

Italian Open, Rome (May 5-11)

2R Doubles: P.Suarez/D.Van Roost def. A.Coetzer/M.Pierce, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
1R Doubles: A.Coetzer/M.Pierce def. A.Ellwood/R.McQuillan, 6-2, 6-0

German Open, Berlin (May 12-18)

2R Doubles: G.Fernandez/N.Zvereva (1) def. A.Coetzer/C.Rubin, 6-2, 6-3
1R Doubles: A.Coetzer/C.Rubin def. E.Callens/L.Courtois, 6-1, 6-2

Internationaux de Strasbourg, Strasbourg (May 19-25)

French Open (Roland Garros), Paris (May 26-June 8)

2R Doubles: C.Martinez/P.Tarabini (10) def. A.Coetzer/M.Pierce, walkover

1R Doubles: A.Coetzer/M.Pierce def. S.Jeyaseelan/J.Lee, 6-4, 6-4

The Championships, Wimbledon (June 23-July 6)

1R Doubles: (10) N. Tauziat/L. Wild def. A. Coetzer/M. Pierce, 6-1, 1-6, 10-8

Bank of the West Classic, Stanford (July 21-27)

SF Doubles: C.Martinez/P.Tarabini (3) def. A.Coetzer/M.Pierce, 6-4, 6-4
QF Doubles: A.Coetzer/M.Pierce def. P.Hy-Boulais/J.Lee, 6-1, 6-3
1R Doubles: A.Coetzer/M.Pierce def. L.McNeil/C.Vis (2), 6-1, 7-5

Toshiba Tennis Classic, San Diego (July 28-Aug. 3)

Acura Classic, Los Angeles (Aug. 4-10)

du Maurier Open, Toronto (Aug. 11-17)

U.S. Women's Hardcourt Championships, Atlanta (Aug. 18-24)

US Open, Flushing Meadows (August 25th to September 7th)

Doubles w/Pierce: 2nd Rd lt Hingis/Sanchez Vicario (2), 6-4, 6-2
1st Rd def. Nagyova/Schnyder, 6-0, 6-1

Sparkassen Cup Int's Grand Prix, Leipzig, Germany (Sept. 22-28)

Unfortunately, Amanda wasn't quite able to pull through in the final of the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, losing to second seeded, and second ranked, Jana Novotna in three tight sets, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6. But it was still a great tournament for her; scoring a rare win over world number one and top seed Martina Hingis in the semi-finals, and pushing Novotna so far, especially in an indoor tournament.

Amanda again lives up to her moniker of 'The Little Assassin' by knocking off another top seed. Many people would have thought that the fast surface and the fact that the match ended in a third-set-tiebreaker would have favoured Hingis, but they underestimated Amanda's skill and fortitude. This is only Hingis' third loss of the year, and Amanda is one of two people to have beaten both Hingis and Graf when they were ranked number one. Hingis praised Amanda on her win; although she admitted she was tired, Martina said "...I don't want to use that as an excuse. Amanda was just better today." Amanda's comments on the match were: "It has been a great achievement for me, especially since I had a very bad ‘96 indoor season. I feel very proud about today's match because I never gave up and I really made myself fight. It was a surprise for me but I just played the best way that I could and went for every shot."

For an article about Amanda's exploits at the Sparkassen Cup from South African newspaper, Business Day Online, click here.

Singles:
Finals: lt. Jana Novotna (2), 2-6, 6-4, 3-6
Semi-finals: def. Martina Hingis (1), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
Quarter-finals: def. Magdalena Grzybowska, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6)
2nd Rd: Amanda Coetzer (4) def. Magdalena Maleeva, 6-3, 7-5
1st Rd: Bye

Doubles:
Semi-finals: lt. Basuki/Sukova (2), 7-6, 6-2
Quarter-finals: def. Simpson/Woodroffe, 6-1, 6-0
1st Rd Doubles w/Kirstie Boogert (4): Coetzer/Boogert (4) def. Huber/Rittner, 6-3, 6-1

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Filderstadt (Oct. 6-12)

Amanda wasn't able to repeat her recent victory over Hingis, in the semis of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She lost to the world number one in straight sets, but was far from disgraced, as Hingis was clearly motivated and hungry to win this match and to avenge her last defeat by Coetzer. Amanda also gained revenge on three players that she had lost to in the past year, and moved back into the top five

Singles:
Semi-final: lt. Martina Hingis (1), 2-6, 1-6
Quarter-final: def. Patty Schnyder, 6-2, 7-5
2nd Rd: def. Anna Kournikova, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
1st Rd: Amanda Coetzer (5) def. Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1

European Championships, Zürich (Oct. 13-19)

Amanda went down to the unseeded but in-form Lisa Raymond on Thursday, in their second round singles match, in straight sets. Amanda had an extraordinarily high percentage of first serves in but made many more uncharacteristic unforced errors. (For match stats, check out the official Zürich site.) Raymond said that she had to play some of her 'best tennis ever' to defeat her second top five opponent in two weeks, before she went on to defeat world number one, Martina Hingis in the next round.

Unfortunately, the doubles combination of Coetzer and Anke Huber had to pull out of the tournament, due to Huber suffering a back injury, that also caused her to withdraw from her singles match. They had one good win over Raymond and MJ Fernandez, the third seed and French Open finalists, and Amanda and Anke appear to make a good doubles combination. It'll be interesting to see if they play together more often, whenever they get the chance.

Singles:
2nd Rd: lt. Lisa Raymond, 5-7, 3-6
1st Rd: Amanda Coetzer (5) def. Patty Schnyder, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3

Doubles:
Quarter-finals: lt. Martinez/Tarabini, walkover
1st Rd: Amanda Coetzer/Anke Huber def. Mary Joe Fernandez/Lisa Raymond (3), 6-2, 7-5

Seat Open, Luxembourg (Oct. 20-26)

To celebrate her 26th birthday, Amanda won her first ever indoor title, and second tournament for the year in Luxembourg, defeating number five seed Barbara Paulus in three tough sets. The win moves her up to a career high number four in the rankings.

Singles:
Finals: def. Barbara Paulus (5), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
Semi-finals: def. Katerina Studenikova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0
Quarter-finals: def. Miriam Oremans, 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4
2nd Rd: Amanda Coetzer (1) def. Silvia Farina, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
1st Rd: bye

Doubles:
2nd Rd: Boogert/Coetzer lt. A. Lindsted/C. Schneider, 6-3, 6-3
1st Rd: Kristie Boogert/Amanda Coetzer (4) def. K. Freye/S. Meier, 6-2, 6-2

Advanta Championships, Philadelphia, (Nov. 10-16)

Amanda was one of the three upset victims in Philadelphia during the quarter-final round. She was defeated 6-2, 6-2 by old foe Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who's head to head against Amanda has now improved to 14-3. From the Philadephia Inquirer, 11/15/97...

"...Amanda Coetzer, the tournament's third seed, fell against eighth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the first match of the afternoon. Sanchez Vicario was nearly flawless in taking a 6-2, 6-2 win that moved her into the semifinals today against Hingis. "I probably sensed pretty early in the match that I was off-balance," Coetzer said. "I couldn't read the ball off her racket. I struggled to see where she was hitting the ball. She's very deceiving, and I wasn't quite prepared for it."

Singles:
Quarter-final: lt. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (8), 2-6, 2-6
2nd Rd: Amanda Coetzer (3) def. Chanda Rubin, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
1st Rd: Bye

Chase Championships, Madison Square Garden New York, (Nov. 17-23 )

Amanda was the first seeded casualty in the Chase Championships, losing to Nathalie Tauziat for the first time in five career matches, in the first round today. This is an extract from CBS Sportsline...

'The loss marked a disappointing end to an outstanding season for Coetzer, who rose to a career best number four in the rankings. She defeated Steffi Graf three times in the first five months of the year and dealt top-ranked Martina Hingis her third loss of the year at Leipzig.
"I got a little bit excited when I had a pretty good indoor season," Coezter said. "This was one of the times I felt I could come into the Championships and do pretty well. It's disappointing, but it's not going to take anything away from how I look back at the whole year."
Like Tauziat, Coetzer's record in the season-ending tournament is 1-4.
"I can't say I've ever played well here and tonight was another example," Coezter said.'

Singles:
1st Rd: Amanda Coetzer (4) lt. Nathalie Tauziat, 6-3, 6-3.