Irina Spîrlea
Irina Spîrlea is a retired 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 Massimiliano Pace, her former coach, in 2001, and has a son, Tommaso, born in 2002, as well as a younger daughter, Francesca.Career
Irina Spîrlea is one of the more successful tennis players from Romania, being one of only three women to have reached the top 10 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.In 1996 Spîrlea became the first player in the history of the Women's Tennis Association to receive a match default for conduct when she swore at an official in Italian during a match played in Palermo, Italy.
Spîrlea was involved in a bumping incident with Venus Williams during a changeover in the semifinals of the 1997 US Open. Spîrlea collided with Williams near the net post while changing ends, and did not move sideways. 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 accused Spîrlea of racism, and later called her "an ugly white turkey". Spîrlea accused Williams of arrogance, saying in a press conference following the match, "I'm not going to move. She never tries to turn She thinks she's the fucking 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'.
WTA Tour finals
Singles: 10 (4–6)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 27 September 1993 | Sapporo | Carpet |  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 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2 January 1995 | Jakarta | Hard |  Sabine Hack | 6–2, 6–7, 4–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 10 July 1995 | Palermo | Clay | Sabine Hack | 7–6, 6–2 |
| Winner | 3. | 8 April 1996 | Amelia Island | Clay | Mary Pierce | 6–7, 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, 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 | Mariaan de Swardt | Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva | 6–7, 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 | 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 | Manon Bollegraf | Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama | 3–6, 7–6, 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 | 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 |
| Winner | 5. | 20 September 1999 | Luxembourg | Carpet | Caroline Vis |  Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Winner | 6. | 25 October 1999 | Linz | Carpet | Caroline Vis | Tina Križan Larisa Neiland | 6–4, 6–3 |
ITF Circuit finals
| Legend |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
Singles
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 24 September 1990 | Mali Lošinj, Yugoslavia | Clay |  Ruxandra Dragomir | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 3 June 1991 | Milan, Italy | Clay | Agnès Zugasti | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Winner | 3. | 3 February 1992 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Clay | Ann Devries | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Winner | 4. | 14 June 1993 | Brindisi, Italy | Clay | Petra Kamstra | 6–1, 5–7, 6–3 |
Doubles
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
- 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
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 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