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Journalism of Courage
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, April 6: Amanda Coetzer did what the top seeds couldn8217;t this week 8212; outlast Irina Spirlea and win the Family Circle Championship yesterday.
Coetzer caught up with just about every drop shot and took the sting out of Spirlea8217;s rocket forehands, winning 6-3, 6-4 for her first top-tier victory on the WTA Tour.
8220;If I had to pick one title that I would want to have my name on, this would be the one,8221; said Coetzer, the No 4 seed who had never made it past the quarterfinals of this event in eight previous tries.
Spirlea, the No 9 seed from Romania, was the talk of the tournament, with third-set tiebreaker wins over top-seeded Lindsay Davenport and No 3 Monica Seles. But Coetzer, a South African who spends about half the year at Hilton Head, drew on her speed and endurance.
Coetzer won 150,000 in the season8217;s first clay-court event and gave the crowd its first hometown champion in the tournament8217;s 26 years. Coetzer survived what became an exodus of top players including ConchitaMartinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
