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 1997
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In 1997, Amélie has a difficult time breaking onto the circuit. She feels as if she may be stagnating a little and decides to leave the federal family.
Amélie also got a call from her agent that year, who suggested she try working with a private coach, Warwick Bashford, a South African living in France.
“I really took my destiny into my own hands once and for all when I hired a private coach. I was the only one in my age group to take that step. I had plunged, and now I had to swim! But a few months later, I saw results: a change had definitely occurred. It actually wasn’t all tennis-related. A lot of it was mental. Learning to take risks taught me how to move forward.”
1998
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Amélie feels better about her tennis and it shows in her results. Her first big success is in Berlin in 1998, when she reaches the finals after brilliant qualifying round matches, and goes on to defeat players like Dominique van Roost, Jana Novotna (World No.3) and Lindsay Davenport (World No.2). Even though she loses in the final to Conchita Martinez, Amélie is flirting with a ranking of 30th in the world. Yannick Noah offers her a spot on the Fed Cup Team, slated to meet Switzerland in the semi-finals.
Ecstatic, Amélie plays two excellent 3-set matches against Patty Schnyder and Martina Hingis. France loses 5-0, but the team fought hard and can leave with their heads held high.
That year, Amélie decides to switch coaches and begins to work with Team Demongeot’s Christophe Fournerie. And in the interclub tournament, TC Méru comes out on top, thanks, of course, to Amélie: “It was a very special moment”.
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