She took home her first Major at Wimbledon in 2000 and never looked back as she quickly established herself as one of the top players on the WTA Tour.

In fact, many believe that the American would have achieved even more success at the Grand Slam level had it not been for her sister Serena Williams, who won a record 23 Major titles.

Whilst the pair often competed against one another, they did enjoy their fair share of success together, as the sisters won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles.

A stellar career for V. Williams, which saw her highly respected by almost everyone in the women’s game.

However, back in 1997, there was one member of the WTA Tour, who wasn’t exactly her biggest fan.

1997 US Open: The ‘bump’ incident between Venus Williams and Irina Spirlea

Williams took the US Open by storm as she made her tournament debut back in 1997.

Having won just one main draw Grand Slam match prior to the tournament, at the French Open, she was unseeded for the event, but it wasn’t long before everyone knew her name.

The American dropped just one set on her way to the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows, before coming up against Romanian veteran Irina Spirlea.

Spirlea was competing in the last four of a Slam for the first time herself and had only won two matches in New York in her previous four visits.

With the pair battling it out for a maiden Major final appearance, Williams took the early lead as she clinched the first set 7-6.

It was in the second set, however, when controversy struck, as the pair collided at a changeover at 4-3.

It looks as if the Romanian walks straight into Williams, whilst the American is looking directly at the chair, where she is about to sit down.

Spirlea grabbed the second set 6-4, before Williams closed out the match in a thrilling third set tiebreaker 7-6 (9-7).

The Romanian was less than impressed after the match, as she lambasted Williams for the changeover incident.

“I’m not going to move. I mean, she’s never trying to turn or whatever,” said Spirlea.

“She thinks she’s the ******* Venus Williams.

“She’s not going to turn, she just went like this. I was like, “I want to see if she’s turning.”

The losing semi-finalist was asked whether the incident showed a lack of respect towards her.

“I think so, I mean, I think so,” she said.

“You know, it’s not like we are enemies, like when we leave, we cannot say hi, you just walk, you know.

“I’m not going to ask, you know, to say hi on the court, but at least turn at the changeover or something.”

Whilst Spirlea was unimpressed by the ‘bump’, Williams had a much more relaxed approach to the incident when she was asked about it after the match.

“I think we just both weren’t looking, I think we both were just concentrating on trying to stay in the match and trying to win the match,” she said.

“I mean, I really wasn’t even thinking about that, so I’m sorry she feels that way.

“It’s not really a big thing to me.”

Williams went on to face Martina Hingis in the final, where she lost in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4, but ‘bump’ incident or not she had certainly announced herself on the world’s stage with her run in New York.

What happened at the 1998 Australian Open when Irina Spirlea played Venus Williams’ sister Serena Williams

The fallout from Spirlea and Williams’ US Open incident lasted quite some time, as the Romanian was fined $5,000 for the obscenity used in her post-match press conference.

Williams’ father accused Spirlea of racism, later calling her an ‘ugly white turkey’, but the drama wasn’t over yet.

At the next Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne, Venus’ sister Serena made her main draw debut against none other than Spirlea.

The tension was unsurprisingly ripe, as the wounds of New York had not yet healed when the Australian Open began.

Williams battled back from a set down, as she compounded the Romanian’s misery, by knocking her out of the opening Grand Slam of the season.

She was rewarded with a second round meeting against her sister, for their first of 31 matches against one another.

It was Venus who came out victorious, as she won 7-6, 6-1, to book her place in the third round at Melbourne Park.

Venus and Serena Williams had begun a legendary rivalry, but their brushes with Spirlea were still not over as the 1997 US Open semi-finalist continued to challenge the pair over the coming years.

Spirlea managed just one win in five against the pair before she retired from the sport in 2000, having reached a career-high of number seven, winning four WTA titles.

The Williams sisters played on for much longer, with Serena retiring in 2022 having dominated the sport for the best part of 20 years.

Venus last played in first round defeats at Indian Wells and Miami this year, and is currently listed as ‘inactive’.

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