Hailing from the small town of Hoopstad, South African Amanda Coetzer knows first hand of some of the difficulties endured by Bermudian youngsters seeking to gain exposure in the sport of tennis.

Indeed it was not easy for the 5ft 2in power-packed bundle of energy to advance her game, with international competition hard to come by in her hometown, situated several hundred miles south-west of the capital Johannesburg.

Hence it did not take much to convince the 30-year-old women's tour veteran to be a part of this week's Lori McNeil/Elbow Beach Celebrity Tennis Classic, which has clinics taking place today at the south shore resort, with the main event slated for tomorrow at Tennis Stadium. There Coetzer will team up with a top local male player - Ricky Mallory or James Collieson - for a mixed doubles clash against McNeil and another Bermudian male.

"It didn't take much, I really wanted to come. Lori mentioned it to me earlier this year and I jumped at the opportunity," said Coetzer, nicknamed The Little Assassin after a victory over the legendary Steffi Graf at the 1997 Australian Open. "Knowing that it was for a good cause I really wanted to come out here.

"I think I can relate quite well to the dilemma faced by some of the young players here. Being from South Africa it's very hard for our juniors to really compete with some of the international juniors because we have to travel so far and everything is expensive, so I think this event will really go a long way in helping the junior tennis programme."

Coetzer, currently ranked 13 on the Women's Tennis Association circuit, was introduced to the sport by her father, Nico, a lawyer and her talents were rapidly revealed.

Despite her small stature Coetzer packs tremendous punch in her groundstrokes and is able to retrieve balls many players would simply watch go by for winners.

A veteran of 12 years on the tour Coetzer admitted this year has not been among her best, but she foresees good things on the horizon.

"I feel really good, we have one more stretch ahead of us, the indoor season in Europe which I'm looking forward to," said Coetzer, who also forms a formidable doubles tandem with McNeil. "I started off great this year, didn't have a great summer, so it's really important for me to do well these next few weeks."

Asked how she was adapting to changes in the female game, with the likes of the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, and Lyndsay Davenport, dominating the circuit with power serves and heavy groundstrokes, Coetzer said she relished the new era.

"In a way it's been a nice challenge for me," she said. "Physically I'm so much smaller than them, so in a way I'm the underdog, and I like being in that situation. I like seeing how much I can prove and challenging these types of players, challenging their games with what I have, because my strengths have always been to run a lot and counter those types of games.

"It's fun, sometimes they're just simply too good, but it's fun to see how I can outmanoeuvre them for some points.

"I think it's definitely going into a new era, but at the same time - and I may be overly optimistic - I think it goes in cycles."

Coetzer said the number of power players was on the increase, with many of the younger players she came across in the first few rounds relying on big serves.

"Now the bar has been raised where everyone is hitting harder, a player like me is getting more used to it and can make my adjustments quicker," she said. "So I think in a way now you're going to see more great athletes like Venus and Serena.

"At this moment they're inspiring some young athletes like that to play tennis that normally may have played a different sport and gone into basketball or something like that. We're going to see that type of athlete coming into the game, but there's room for everyone I believe.

"Just like in the men's game where for a while it looked like the serve was going to dominate, now you see some of the smaller guys, the counter punchers, having some success again, so it's interesting."

Coetzer closed with a message for the local youth, encouraging them to seek out ways to improve their games and seize opportunities when they were presented.

"I advise them to grab at the opportunities that you get when you are exposed to them," she said.

"Just try and always learn and get better, sometimes you have to sacrifice trying to win all the time, but enjoy it and get better."