Irina Spîrlea
| Country (sports) | Romania |
|---|---|
| Residence | Rome, Italy |
| Born |
26 March 1974 Bucharest, Romania |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Turned pro | 1990 |
| Retired | 2000 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one handed-backhand) |
| Prize money | US$ 2,652,068 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 291–189 |
| Career titles | 4 WTA, 3 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 7 (13 October 1997) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | QF (1997) |
| French Open | 4R (1994, 1996, 1997) |
| Wimbledon | 4R (1997, 1998) |
| US Open | SF (1997) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 200–154 |
| Career titles | 6 WTA, 5 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 16 (2 October 1995) |
Irina Spîrlea (born 26 March 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. Spîrlea reached her highest individual ranking on the WTA Tour on 13 October 1997, when she became number 7 in the world. She retired in 2000.
Personal life
Spîrlea married her former coach, Italian Massimiliano Pace, in 2001, and has a son, Tommaso, born in 2002, as well as a younger daughter, Francesca.[1][2]
Career
Irina Spîrlea is one of the most successful Romanian female tennis players, being one of only three to have reached the top 10 (the others being Virginia Ruzici and Simona Halep.)[3] Her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament was a semi-final at the US Open in 1997. She won the WTA's Newcomer of the Year award in 1994.[4]
Controversies
In 1996 Spîrlea became the first player in the history of the Women's Tennis Association to receive a match default for conduct[5] when she swore at an official in "gutter Italian" during a match played in Palermo, Italy.[6]
Spîrlea is known for a bumping incident with Venus Williams during a changeover in the semi-finals of the 1997 US Open. Spîrlea collided with Williams near the net post while changing ends, claiming that Venus Williams was arrogant and didn't move. Spîrlea went on to lose the match 6–7, 6–4, 6–7 in a third-set tiebreak, after holding two match points, at 6–4 and 6–5 in the tie breaker. Williams' father blamed Spîrlea's racism as the cause of the collision and later called her an "ugly, white turkey".[7] Spîrlea cited Williams' arrogance, saying in a press conference following the match, "I'm not going to move. She never tries to turn"[8] and "She thinks she's the (expletive) Venus Williams."[7] 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'.[9]
WTA Tour Finals
Singles: 10 (4–6)
|
|
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 27 September 1993 | Sapporo | Carpet (I) | Linda Wild | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 25 April 1994 | Taranto | Clay | Julie Halard-Decugis | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 4 July 1994 | Palermo | Clay | Brenda Schultz-McCarthy | 6–4, 1–6, 7–6(7–5) |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2 January 1995 | Jakarta | Hard | Sabine Hack | 6–2, 6–7(6–8), 4–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 10 July 1995 | Palermo | Clay | Sabine Hack | 7–6(7–1), 6–2 |
| Winner | 3. | 8 April 1996 | Amelia Island | Clay | Mary Pierce | 6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 3 March 1997 | Indian Wells | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 30 March 1998 | Hilton Head Island | Clay | Amanda Coetzer | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Winner | 4. | 18 May 1998 | Strasbourg | Clay | Julie Halard-Decugis | 7–6(7–5), 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 19 April 1999 | Cairo | Clay | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 1–6, 0–6 |
Doubles: 13 (6–7)
|
|
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 25 April 1994 | Taranto | Clay | Noëlle van Lottum | Sandra Cecchini Isabelle Demongeot |
6–3, 2–6, 6–1 |
| Winner | 2. | 2 January 1995 | Jakarta | Hard | Claudia Porwik | Laurence Courtois Nancy Feber |
6–2, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 1 | 24 April 1995 | Zagreb | Clay | Laura Golarsa | Mercedes Paz Rene Simpson |
5–7, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 29 January 1996 | Tokyo | Carpet (I) | Mariaan de Swardt | Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva |
6–7(7–9), 3–6 |
| Winner | 3. | 6 May 1996 | Rome | Clay | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Gigi Fernández Martina Hingis |
6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 4 November 1996 | Oakland | Carpet (I) | Nathalie Tauziat | Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernández |
1–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 19 May 1997 | Madrid | Clay | Inés Gorrochategui | Mary Joe Fernández Arantxa Sánchez Vicario |
3–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 2 November 1998 | Leipzig | Carpet (I) | Manon Bollegraf | Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama |
3–6, 7–6(7–2), 1–6 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 4 January 1999 | Gold Coast | Hard | Kristine Kunce | Corina Morariu Larisa Neiland |
3–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 4. | 22 February 1999 | Paris | Carpet (I) | Caroline Vis | Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama |
7–5, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 19 April 1999 | Cairo | Clay | Caroline Vis | Laurence Courtois Arantxa Sánchez Vicario |
7–5, 1–6, 6–7(7–9) |
| Winner | 5. | 20 September 1999 | Luxembourg | Carpet (I) | Caroline Vis | Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik |
6–1, 6–2 |
| Winner | 6. | 25 October 1999 | Linz | Carpet (I) | Caroline Vis | Tina Križan Larisa Neiland |
6–4, 6–3 |
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | SR | W–L | W% | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | 4R | 2R | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 7 | 8–7 | 53% | ||||||||||
| French Open | A | A | 1R | A | 4R | 3R | 4R | 4R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 8 | 13–8 | 62% | ||||||||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | 2R | 4R | 4R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 7 | 10–7 | 59% | ||||||||||
| US Open | A | A | Q1 | A | 1R | 1R | 3R | SF | 4R | 3R | A | 0 / 6 | 12–6 | 67% | ||||||||||
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 7–4 | 7–4 | 15–4 | 6–4 | 4–4 | 0–3 | 0 / 28 | 43–28 | 61% | ||||||||||
| Year-End Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | SF | SF | A | A | 0 / 3 | 4–3 | 57% | ||||||||||
| Tier I Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tokyo | Tier II | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | QF | A | A | 0 / 3 | 4–3 | 57% | ||||||||||||
| Chicago | A | Tier II | Not Held | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | 0% | ||||||||||||||||||
| Boca Raton | Tier II | A | A | Tier II | Not Held | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | ||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells | Tier II | F | 3R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 5 | 8–5 | 62% | ||||||||||||||||
| Miami | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | QF | QF | 2R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 7 | 8–7 | 53% | ||||||||||
| Charleston | A | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | QF | 3R | F | 2R | A | 0 / 6 | 11–6 | 65% | ||||||||||
| Berlin | A | A | A | A | A | SF | A | 3R | QF | 1R | 1F | 0 / 5 | 7–5 | 58% | ||||||||||
| Rome | A | A | Q1 | A | SF | 3R | SF | QF | 3R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 8 | 15–8 | 65% | ||||||||||
| Montreal / Toronto | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 1–4 | 20% | ||||||||||
| Moscow | Tier V | Not Held | Tier III | QF | 1R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% | ||||||||||||||
| Zürich | Tier II | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | SF | 2R | A | 0 / 5 | 6–5 | 55% | ||||||||||||
| Philadelphia | NH | Tier II | A | A | QF | Tier II | 0 / 4 | 5–4 | 56% | |||||||||||||||
| Career Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year-End Ranking | 310 | 208 | 164 | 63 | 43 | 21 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 35 | 167 | |||||||||||||
- A = did not participate in the tournament.
- SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
Record against other top players
Spîrlea's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked World No. 10 or higher is as follows:
Players who have been ranked World No. 1 are in boldface.
- Dominique Monami 6–3
- Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 5–5
- Mary Joe Fernández 4–0
- /Karina Habšudová 4–1
- Amanda Coetzer 4–4
- Julie Halard-Decugis 3–2
- Ai Sugiyama 3–2
- Mary Pierce 3–5
- //Monica Seles 3–5
- Barbara Schett 2–0
- Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 2–0
- Anna Kournikova 2–1
- Sandrine Testud 2–1
- Gabriela Sabatini 2–2
- Chanda Rubin 2–3
- /Natasha Zvereva 2–5
- Lori McNeil 1–0
- Paola Suárez 1–0
- Andrea Temesvári 1–0
- Nathalie Tauziat 1–2
- Serena Williams 1–3
- Venus Williams 1–3
- Conchita Martínez 1–4
- Barbara Paulus 1–4
- Lindsay Davenport 1–6
- Anke Huber 1–7
- Kimiko Date-Krumm 0–1
- Zina Garrison 0–1
- /Martina Navratilova 0–1
- Patty Schnyder 0–1
- Jennifer Capriati 0–2
- Steffi Graf 0–2
- Iva Majoli 0–3
- Martina Hingis 0–6
- /Jana Novotná 0–6
References
- ↑ Article in Romanian
- ↑ Article in Romanian
- ↑ Article in Romanian
- ↑
- ↑ The Enquirer – This article is no longer available
- ↑ CNN/SI – US Open Player Profiles
- 1 2 sportsillustrated.cnn.com
- ↑ telegraph.co.uk
- ↑ Father of tennis star Venus Williams charges racism during recent U.S. Open – Richard Williams|Jet|Find Articles at BNET.com
External links
- Irina Spîrlea at the Women's Tennis Association
- Irina Spîrlea at the International Tennis Federation
- Irina Spîrlea at the Fed Cup
| Preceded by Iva Majoli |
WTA Newcomer of the Year 1994 |
Succeeded by Martina Hingis |