The Bump, Revisited

Perhaps Irina Spirlea would like to re-think her changeover tactics from her famous 1997 US Open semifinal with Venus Williams. The Romanian was the higher-ranked player with a more consistent game and the experience to boot. So why did she feel the need to physically run into Williams just to get noticed?



It was a bizarre move in a bizarre match, which went 7-6 in the third set to Miss Williams, giving the 66th-ranked American her first shot at a Major title. Back in '97 Venus Williams wasn't Venus Williams yet. She, instead, was a gangly teenager with beaded hair attempting to live up to the hype that her father had been brewing for years.

So when The Bump occurred, it was Spirlea's desperate attempt to get noticed, as she would say later. Spirlea's act of desperation would only buy her the second set before she fell in the third-set breaker to Williams. And, of course, controversy followed in the form of a war of words between Spirlea and Richard Williams. She called Venus "the fucking Venus Williams" and Williams retorted by calling Spirlea a "big white turkey."

Racism aside, it was an ugly moment for women's tennis, but one that few can forget. It would be our first glimpse at America's new tennis family and, in a lot of ways, our last look at Irina Spirlea, a player with plenty of capability but - as she proved on Ashe that day - little maturity and resolve. Her career fizzled over the next three years, and at the tender age of 26 in 2000, she retired.

First The Bump, then The Hand. I wonder what the Williams sisters can involve themselves in during this Grand Slam...?

In case you're interested, here's the third-set breaker: