Amanda Coetzer meets Lisa Raymond in Memphis final

Memphis Tenn. USA
By Etienne Stekelenburg
February 22 2003

Amanda Coetzer reached The Kroger St. Jude Cellular South Cup final in Memphis’ Racquet Club. The third seed from South Africa will meet the defending champion Lisa Raymond from the USA. Amanda Coetzer won against the sixth seed Lara Granville 6-4 6-1 in the semi final.

Lisa Raymond had a less easier victory against the Korean Joon Jeong Cho and lost one set. It looked like it was going to be an easy 6-3 win in the first set until Cho took control in the second with 2-6.

Raymond pulled herself together and used all of her experience to take a 5-1 lead in the third set and ended the match 6-3 for a spot in the final. Lisa Raymond never played Korea’s Cho before and said that Cho didn’t have much pace on the ball in the third set.

Raymond was really happy with the way she could regroup herself to take the match home in the third. She is also looking forward playing the final and that she is certainly prepared for it. She loves playing the Memphis courts with that kind of atmosphere again and hopes to regain the title in a great final.

Amanda Coetzer didn’t win a title since her victory at Acapulco in 2001. "It's been a while since I've been in the final, so it feels nice," said Coetzer. "Last year I lost first round here, so it's especially nice to be in the final this time around."

The head to head is in favour of the South African who is currently ranked at #23, Amanda Coetzer won 9 out of the 12 matches against Lisa Raymond. She added that both know each others games very well and that the battles they fought were always real close.

She has been growing in the tournament after struggling in the first two matches against Roesch and Taylor. Her confidence is growing as the tournament gets closer to the final with that her play has become better. She hopes her adrenaline will help her to play the final she has been waiting for since Acapulco 2001.