Amanda Coetzer

Amanda Coetzer

At 1.58 metres, Amanda Coetzer built a career out of proving size meant nothing, a habit that earned her the nickname the Little Assassin. Nothing captured it like May 1997 in Berlin, where she beat world No. 1 Steffi Graf 6-0, 6-1 in just 56 minutes, the heaviest defeat of Graf's career. It was one of three wins over Graf that season alone, at the Australian Open, in Berlin and at Roland Garros, on hard court and on clay against the player who still ran the tour.

That run carried Coetzer to three Grand Slam semifinals, at the 1996 and 1997 Australian Open and the 1997 French Open, and to a career-high No. 3 in November 1997. She never played a major final, but her speed around the court turned matches against far bigger, far more decorated names into ambushes, and 9 career titles came on the back of that same relentless coverage. She retired in 2004 with the giant-killing reputation fully intact.