Amanda Hopmans named ITF Wheelchair Tennis Coach of the Year

Amanda Hopmans, personal coach of world No. 1 Diede de Groot, has been named ITF Wheelchair Tennis Coach of the Year for 2021.

The Coach of the Year Award is presented to a coach who is considered to have made a substantial contribution to the development of wheelchair tennis and players both nationally and internationally. The Award is presented by the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Committee and was introduced in 2004.

A former Billie Jean King Cup player for Netherlands, Hopmans has been working with De Groot since 2014 and has been central to the three-time ITF World Champion’s phenomenal success, which culminated in De Groot becoming the first wheelchair tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam in 2021.

De Groot previously made history in 2019, becoming the first wheelchair player to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time, following her first Roland Garros title. In winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the US Open and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic women’s singles gold medal in 2021, De Groot joins Steffi Graf as the only two female winners of the Golden Slam.

Hopmans was nominated by the KNLTB as an outstanding and passionate coach who dedicates a lot of time and commitment to her profession and is unconditionally supportive and eager to learn.

Having started to work in wheelchair tennis in 2014, Hopmans is keen to share her knowledge with other coaches and trainers and is always prepared to help others improve their knowledge and teaching of wheelchair tennis.

Hopmans received her award from ITF President David Haggerty at the 2022 BNP Paribas World Team Cup Dinner that concluded the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event in Vilamoura, Portugal, where Hopmans was coach of Netherlands' silver medal-winning women’s team.