Irina Spîrlea

Infobox Tennis player
playername = Irina Spîrlea


country = ROM
residence = Rome, Italy
datebirth = birth date and age|1974|03|26
placebirth = Bucharest, Romania
height = 1.75 m (5' 9")
weight = 68 kg (150 lbs.)
turnedpro = 1990
retired = "Retired" (2000)
plays = Right
careerprizemoney = $2,652,068
singlesrecord = 291–189
singlestitles = 4 WTA, 3 ITF
highestsinglesranking = No. 7 (October 13, 1997)
AustralianOpenresult = QF (1997)
FrenchOpenresult = 4r (1994, 1996, 1997)
Wimbledonresult = 4r (1997, 1998)
USOpenresult = SF (1997)
doublesrecord = 200–154
doublestitles = 6 WTA, 5 ITF
highestdoublesranking = No. 16 (October 2, 1995)

Irina Spîrlea (born March 26, 1974 in Bucharest) is a former tennis player from Romania, who turned professional in 1990. She won four singles and six doubles titles during her career. The righthander reached her highest individual ranking on the WTA Tour on October 13, 1997, when she became number 7 in the world. She retired in 2000.

WTA Tour Titles(10)

ingles(4)

Doubles(6)

Personal life

Spîrlea married her former coach, Italian Massimiliano Pace, in 2001, and has a son born in 2002. [Article in Romanian: [http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/irina-spirlea-a-nascut-un-baietel/10508] ]

Controversies

In 1996 Spîrlea became the first player in the history of the Women's Tennis Association to receive a match default for conduct [ [http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070718/SPT/707180354/-1/CINCI The Enquirer - This article is no longer available ] ] when she swore at an official in "gutter Italian" during a match played in Palermo, Italy. [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/events/1997/usopen/profiles/profiles14.html CNN/SI - US Open Player Profiles ] ]

Spîrlea is known for a bumping incident with Venus Williams during a changeover in the semifinals of the 1997 US Open. Spirlea collided with Williams near the net post while changing ends. Spirlea went on to lose the match 6–7(5), 6–4, 6–7(7) in a third-set tiebreak, after holding two match points, at 6–4 and 6–5 in the tie breaker. Williams' father blamed Spirlea's racism as the cause of the collision and later called her an "ugly, white turkey". [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/1997/12/19/news.yetennis.html sportsillustrated.cnn.com] ] Spirlea cited Williams' arrogance, saying in a press conference following the match, "I'm not going to move. She never tries to turn" [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/1997/09/08/sthing08.xml telegraph.co.uk] ] and "She thinks she's the fucking Venus Williams." [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/1997/12/19/news.yetennis.html sportsillustrated.cnn.com] ] Williams however shrugged off the confrontation saying "I thought we both weren't looking. I'm sorry she feels that way. It's not a big thing to me. No one said 'Excuse me.' " [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n19_v92/ai_19813584 Father of tennis star Venus Williams charges racism during recent U.S. Open - Richard Williams | Jet | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDjia1FlA7A The "bumping incident" with Venus Williams, on YouTube]
*wta|id=190185|name=Irina Spîrlea