US OPEN

September 5, 1997

Irina Sprilea

Q. Can you tell us about the collision at the changeover chair at 4-3 in the second set? What was that all about?

IRINA SPIRLEA: I'm not going to move. I mean, she's never trying to turn or whatever. She thinks she's the fucking Venus Williams. She not going to turn. She just went like this. I was like, "I want to see if she's turning." She didn't, so.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Pardon?

IRINA SPIRLEA: You know, it's not like we are enemies. Like when we leave, we cannot say hi, you just walk, you know, it's like (indicating). I'm not going to ask, you know, to say hi on the court. But at least turn at the changeover or something, because it can be the same time you cross the court. You just turn or something. I've done all the time, I turn. But she just walks. I wanted to see, you know, if she's going to turn. She didn't.

IRINA SPIRLEA: I think so. I mean, I think so.

IRINA SPIRLEA: What do you think? Very.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Who?

IRINA SPIRLEA: No. If she said something to me? No, I don't think so. No, I don't think so. Did you hear anything?

IRINA SPIRLEA: I think sometimes we just talk to ourselves. Even me, I mean, I'm talking with myself on the court. So, you know, I don't think you have time to talk with, you know, your opponent.

IRINA SPIRLEA: I don't think it was, you know, like emotional. I think it was the same level.

IRINA SPIRLEA: With a little bit of luck. And the pressure, you said?

IRINA SPIRLEA: I just said before, you know, it was the same. I mean, normal. At the beginning it's normal if you have a little bit of pressure. It's a semifinal. You play out there, you know. You think to do well, you know. You have to try, you know, to get over it. I think I've done it pretty, you know, quick. How she ended, I just said.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Was it? I don't think so.

IRINA SPIRLEA: If I feel like to go for dropshot, I'm going to do it. I like to make dropshots. I like, you know, to have fun on the court. You know, if I want to make a dropshot, I'm going to do it. I'm not going to think, "Oh, my God, she's running." If she gets there, she has to do it.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Yeah. But tell me how many errors I have and how many errors she has.

IRINA SPIRLEA: When?

IRINA SPIRLEA: I don't know.

IRINA SPIRLEA: I don't know. I don't know what to the crowd.

IRINA SPIRLEA: No, I don't think so. No, I never said anything to the crowd. I don't think so. I cannot remember, you know, what you're saying. I don't think so.

IRINA SPIRLEA: No. I mean, you know, trying to break her. It's tough to break her. She's serving kick sometimes. She just goes for it. I think I have a few chances down there, but I just missed.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Nothing.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Just play the same. Just try, you know, to make that point. But I couldn't do it.

IRINA SPIRLEA: No. At one point, you know, I think I was like, in, you know, not hearing anything. You know, you are just focusing there. You cannot hear anything.

IRINA SPIRLEA: I tried to hit it down the line or hit it back on her outside forehand. I think I was a little bit hesitating on that ball, thinking too much. I missed the time.

IRINA SPIRLEA: No.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Because at the first set, in the first set, you know, we were not making so many changes, you know, like play too much point. I was not feeling like I could get into it. You don't have a rhythm, you know, to continue. At the end, yeah. I mean, the end of, you know, the second set and the third set, I think, you know, it was much better. But, you know, I don't think was like some other matches I played.

IRINA SPIRLEA: If I enjoy, yeah, I enjoy. But I think I enjoy if I was winning the match more.

IRINA SPIRLEA: I mean, the last -- the 6-4 match point was net and down the line, on the line. So, you know, if it has to happen, it's like this out (indicating), or it's not going to pass through the net.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Do I have to answer? I'm not going to answer.

IRINA SPIRLEA: I don't have time. You know, I just have shower. I don't want to say something bad, you know. Everything that's coming out of me like against her. I cannot say she impress me this, this, or that, no. I have to think about it.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Yeah. Why not?

IRINA SPIRLEA: No.

IRINA SPIRLEA: I don't know. I mean, I think Martina beat her every time. The last match she won, I don't know, three our four games. It's not going to be the same. Martina is playing pretty well now. I think Venus is having a lot of confidence arriving here. I don't know. It's going to be, I think, a tough match.

IRINA SPIRLEA: That I made the semifinal and I lost two match points me -- I mean, I lost two match points to go in the final.

IRINA SPIRLEA: Yeah. I mean, sometimes it seems that she's not going to be able to hit the ball, and she's right there. So, I mean, sometimes you have just the whole court open, and I don't know how, but she get it back, and she have an unbelievable angle from her backhand especially. So she's moving very well.

IRINA SPIRLEA: I mean, I cannot change my game, you know, from one day to the other. I mean, I'm playing dropshots, I'm playing slice, I'm playing backhand. You know, I'm going to play like this. I'm going to try to make her play bad with my game. I'm not going to try, you know, to play her game and not do what I like to do and what I know to do.

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