Irina Spîrlea is a former tennis player from Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, who turned professional in 1990. She won four singles and six doubles titles during her career. The right-hander 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.

Personal life

Spîrlea married her former coach, Italian Massimiliano Pace, in 2001, and has a son born in 2002.

Controversies

In 1996 Spîrlea became the first player in the history of the Women's Tennis Association

Women's Tennis Association

The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...

 to receive a match default for conduct when she swore at an official in "gutter Italian" during a match played in Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

, Italy.

Spîrlea is known for a bumping incident with Venus Williams

Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...

 during a changeover in the semifinals of the 1997 US Open. Spîrlea deliberately collided with Williams near the net post while changing ends, claiming that Venus Williams

Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...

 was arrogant and didn't move. Spîrlea 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

Richard Williams (tennis)

Richard Williams is an American tennis coach, and the father of Venus and Serena Williams.-Biography:Williams is one of six children and only son of single mother Julia Mae Williams. He has been known to exaggerate aspects of his upbringing. A childhood friend told Sports Illustrated writer L...

 blamed Spîrlea's racism as the cause of the collision and later called her an "ugly, white turkey". Spîrlea cited Williams' arrogance, saying in a press conference following the match, "I'm not going to move. She never tries to turn" and "She thinks she's the (expletive) Venus Williams." 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.' " Ironically, at the Australian Open in 1998

1998 Australian Open - Women's Singles

Martina Hingis was the defending champion, and she successfully defended her title by defeating Conchita Martínez, 6–3, 6–3. in the final.-Seeds:# Martina Hingis # Lindsay Davenport # Amanda Coetzer ...

 she was drawn against Venus' sister, Serena, in the first round. This made her the first-ever opponent of Serena Williams

Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...

 in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. Had Spîrlea won she would have gone on to face Venus in the second round. However, she was defeated by Serena in three sets and the sisters would instead go on to play against each other.

Singles(4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	1994	Palermo Palermo Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old... , Italy	Clay	Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Brenda Anne Marie Schultz-McCarthy is a Dutch tennis player. Primarily known for her maiden name Brenda Schultz, she married Sean McCarthy, a former American football player at University of Cincinnati, on 8 April 1995 and adopted his surname...	6–4 1–6 7–6(5)
2.	1995	Palermo Palermo Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old... , Italy	Clay	Sabine Hack Sabine Hack Sabine Hack is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She began her career on the WTA Tour in 1983. She won four singles and one doubles titles in her career. Her best Grand Slam performance was reaching the quarterfinals at the 1994 French Open. Hack reached a career-high ranking of...	7–6(1) 6–2
3.	1996	Amelia Island Amelia Island Amelia Island is one of the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands that stretches along the east coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida. It is long and approximately 4 miles wide at its widest point. Amelia Island is situated off the coast in Nassau County,...	Clay	Mary Pierce Mary Pierce Mary Pierce is a French-American tennis professional playing on the Women's Tennis Association tour. She is a citizen of France, Canada, and the United States but plays for France in team competitions and the Olympics.Pierce has won four Grand Slam titles, two in singles and two in doubles...	6–7(7) 6–4 6–3
4.	1998	Strasbourg Strasbourg Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,... , France	Clay	Julie Halard-Decugis Julie Halard-Decugis Julie Halard-Decugis is a former professional female tennis player.Halard-Decugis lived in La Baule, France during the initial stages of her career and later moved to Pully, Switzerland...	7–6(5) 6–3

Doubles(6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Partnering	Surface	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	1994	Taranto Taranto Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base.... , Italy	Noëlle van Lottum Noëlle van Lottum Noëlle van Lottum is a Dutch-born former professional tennis player who played for France.Van Lottum played on the WTA Tour from 1987 until 1999, winning one singles and one doubles title. Her career-high singles ranking was World No. 57 and her career-high doubles ranking was World No. 59...	Clay	Sandra Cecchini Sandra Cecchini Anna-Maria Cecchini is a former Italian professional tennis player.Cecchini or Sandra as she was known on the WTA tour, played from 1981 to 1998 and won 11 singles titles. Her most notable Grand Slam performance came in her first appearance at Roland Garros in 1984, when she reached the quarter...  and   Isabelle Demongeot Isabelle Demongeot Isabelle Demongeot is a former professional tennis player from France, who turned professional on May 1, 1983. She lived in Saint-Tropez in the French Riviera in the early stages of her career and later settled down further south in Gassin.Demongeot won her only WTA Tour singles title in Purchase...	6–3 2–6 6–1
2.	1995	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...	Claudia Porwik Claudia Porwik Claudia Porwik is a former professional tennis player. She was born on 14 November 1968 in Coburg, West Germany and played on the WTA tour from 1986 to 1996...	Hard	Laurence Courtois Laurence Courtois Laurence Courtois is a former professional female tennis player from Belgium.Courtois won four doubles titles on the WTA Tour during her career.-Singles 2:-Doubles 9 :-References:*...  and   Nancy Feber Nancy Feber Nancy Feber is a retired Belgian tennis player. As a junior player, she won four Grand Slam titles – one in singles and three in doubles. Feber won French Open twice, in 1992 and 1993, both times in doubles with Laurence Courtois...	6–2 6–3
3.	1996	Italian Open, Italy	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Aránzazu 'Arantxa' Isabel Maria Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former professional tennis player...	Clay	Gigi Fernández Gigi Fernández Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández is a former professional tennis player, the first female athlete from her native Puerto Rico to turn professional, the first Puerto Rican woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal and the first to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.Fernandez won 17 Grand...  and   Martina Hingis Martina Hingis Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...	6–4 3–6 6–3
4.	1999	Paris, France	Caroline Vis Caroline Vis Caroline Vis is a retired professional tennis player from the Netherlands. Vis turned pro in 1989. A doubles specialist, Vis won nine titles during her career on the WTA Tour. She reached the mixed doubles final at the 1991 French Open, playing with countryman Paul Haarhuis. Her career-high...	Carpet	Elena Likhovtseva Elena Likhovtseva Elena Alexandrovna Likhovtseva is a Russian tennis player, currently inactive. She turned professional in January 1992 at the age of 16.Likhovtseva's career best appearance in a Grand Slam was when she reached the semi finals of the French Open 2005 before she was defeated by Mary Pierce, 6–1 6–1...  and   Ai Sugiyama Ai Sugiyama is a retired Japanese professional tennis player. She reached No. 1 in women's doubles on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. She turned professional in 1992...	7–5 3–6 6–3
5.	1999	Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...	Caroline Vis Caroline Vis Caroline Vis is a retired professional tennis player from the Netherlands. Vis turned pro in 1989. A doubles specialist, Vis won nine titles during her career on the WTA Tour. She reached the mixed doubles final at the 1991 French Open, playing with countryman Paul Haarhuis. Her career-high...	Carpet	Tina Križan Tina Križan Tina Križan is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Known primarily for her achievements playing doubles, she reached a career-high doubles ranking of 19 in 2002. She has won 6 WTA titles and 10 ITF tournaments...  and   Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Srebotnik is right-handed, 1.80 m, weighs 65 kg and lives in Dubai. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 20 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour on August 7, 2006.Srebotnik won 4 singles titles on the WTA-tour and was a steady top 30...	6–1 6–2
6.	1999	Linz Linz Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about... , Austria	Caroline Vis Caroline Vis Caroline Vis is a retired professional tennis player from the Netherlands. Vis turned pro in 1989. A doubles specialist, Vis won nine titles during her career on the WTA Tour. She reached the mixed doubles final at the 1991 French Open, playing with countryman Paul Haarhuis. Her career-high...	Carpet	Tina Križan Tina Križan Tina Križan is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Known primarily for her achievements playing doubles, she reached a career-high doubles ranking of 19 in 2002. She has won 6 WTA titles and 10 ITF tournaments...  and   Larisa Neiland Larisa Neiland Larisa Savchenko Neiland is a former tennis player who represented Latvia. A former number-one ranked doubles player, Neiland won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won two singles titles and sixty-five doubles titles.-Career:Neiland turned professional in 1983...	6–4 6–3

Single Performance Timeline

Tournament	1992 1992 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...	1993 1993 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...	1994 1994 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...	1995 1995 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...	1996 1996 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...	1997 1997 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...	1998 1998 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...	1999 1999 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...	2000 2000 WTA Tour The 2000 Sanex WTA Tour was the 28th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 3, 2000, and concluded on November 13, 2000, after 58 events. For this season, a new event was added: the State Farm Classic in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S...	Win-Loss
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...	LQ	LQ	1R 1994 Australian Open - Women's Singles Steffi Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–0 6–2 in the final to win the Women's Singles title at the 1994 Australian Open. Monica Seles was the defending champion.See also:-Seeds:...	4R 1995 Australian Open - Women's Singles Mary Pierce defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–3 6–2 in the final to win the Women's Singles title at the 1995 Australian Open.See also:-Seeds:...	2R 1996 Australian Open - Women's Singles Mary Pierce was the defending champion, but she was defeated by Elena Likhovtseva in the second round.Monica Seles won the title, defeating Anke Huber in the final...	QF 1997 Australian Open - Women's Singles Monica Seles was the defending champion but did not compete that year.Martina Hingis won in the final 6–2, 6–2 over Mary Pierce. She became the youngest woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.-Seeds:...	1R 1998 Australian Open - Women's Singles Martina Hingis was the defending champion, and she successfully defended her title by defeating Conchita Martínez, 6–3, 6–3. in the final.-Seeds:# Martina Hingis # Lindsay Davenport # Amanda Coetzer ...	1R 1999 Australian Open - Women's Singles Martina Hingis was the two-time defending champion, and she successfully defended her title by defeating Amélie Mauresmo, 6–2, 6–3, in the final. With this win, she joined Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles as the only women to have won three consecutive...	1R 2000 Australian Open - Women's Singles Martina Hingis was the three-time defending champion, but she was defeated by Lindsay Davenport in the final, 6–1, 7–5.-Seeds:# Martina Hingis # Lindsay Davenport # Serena Williams ...	8–7
French Open	1R 1992 French Open - Women's Singles The two-time defending champion Monica Seles defeated Steffi Graf, 6–2, 3–6, 10–8, in the final to win her third consecutive French Open title. She is one of only two people to win three consecutive French Open titles.-Seeds:...	A	4R 1994 French Open - Women's Singles Steffi Graf was the defending champion, but she was defeated by home player Mary Pierce in the semifinals.Arantxa Sánchez Vicario won the title, defeating Pierce, 6–4, 6–4....	3R 1995 French Open - Women's Singles Steffi Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 7-5 4-6 6-0 in the final to win the Women's Singles title at the 1995 French Open.See also:-Seeds:...	4R 1996 French Open - Women's Singles Steffi Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6-3 6-7 10-8 in the final to win the Women's Singles title at the 1996 French Open.See also:-Seeds:...	4R 1997 French Open - Women's Singles Steffi Graf was the defending champion, but she was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Amanda Coetzer.Iva Majoli won the title, defeating World No...	1R 1998 French Open - Women's Singles Iva Majoli was the defending champion, but lost to Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals.Arantxa Sánchez Vicario won the title, defeating Monica Seles, 7–6, 0–6, 6–2, in the final...	3R 1999 French Open - Women's Singles Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was the defending champion, but she was knocked out by Martina Hingis in the semifinals.Hingis reached the final, but was defeated by sixth seed Steffi Graf, 4–6, 7–5, 6–2. Graf became the first player in the Open Era to defeat the first, second and third...	1R 2000 French Open - Women's Singles Mary Pierce defeated Conchita Martínez 6-2 7-5 in the final to win the Women's Singles title at the 2000 French Open.See also:-Seeds:The seeded players are listed below. Mary Pierce is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated....	13–8
Wimbledon	LQ	A	2R 1994 Wimbledon Championships - Women's Singles Steffi Graf was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Lori McNeil, marking the first and so far the only time that a defending champion lost in the first round of a Grand Slam...	3R 1995 Wimbledon Championships - Women's Singles Steffi Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 4-6 6-1 7-5 in the final to win the Ladies' Singles title at the 1995 Wimbledon Championships.See also:-Seeds:...	2R 1996 Wimbledon Championships - Women's Singles Steffi Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6-3 7-5 in the final to win the Ladies' Singles title at the 1996 Wimbledon Championships.See also:-Seeds:The seeded players are listed below...	4R 1997 Wimbledon Championships - Women's Singles Steffi Graf was the defending champion, but she did not compete this year due to injury.World No. 1 Martina Hingis won title, defeating Jana Novotná in the final, 2–6, 6–3, 6–3, to became the youngest person since Lottie Dod to win Wimbledon.-Seeds:...	4R 1998 Wimbledon Championships - Women's Singles Martina Hingis was the defending champion, but she was defeated by Jana Novotná in the semifinals in a rematch of last year's final.Novotná then defeated Nathalie Tauziat in the final, 6–4, 7–6, in the final on 4 July 1998 to win the tournament...	1R 1999 Wimbledon Championships - Women's Singles Jana Novotná was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Lindsay Davenport. Davenport ended up defeating Steffi Graf, 6–4, 7–5, in the final to win without losing a set in the entire tournament....	1R 2000 Wimbledon Championships - Women's Singles Venus Williams defeated Lindsay Davenport 6-3 7-6 in the final to win the Ladies' Singles title at the 2000 Wimbledon Championships.See also:-Seeds:...	10/7
US Open	A	LQ	1R 1994 US Open - Women's Singles Arantxa Sánchez Vicario defeated Steffi Graf 1-6 7-6 6-4 in the final to win the Women's Singles title at the 1994 U.S. Open.See also:-Seeds:...	1R	3R	SF	4R	3R 1999 US Open - Women's Singles Lindsay Davenport was the defending champion, but she was defeated in the semifinals by Serena Williams. Williams then went on to win in the final, defeating World No. 1 Martina Hingis...	A	12/6

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