Top 10 US Open Matches: No. 10, Venus d. Spirlea, 1997 semifinals

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Flushing Meadows is tennis’ largest stage, and over the last 50 years, it has been the site of some of the sport’s greatest dramas. This week, we'll count down the 10 most memorable US Open matches of the Open Era. To follow the countdown, click here.

This semifinal, between a 17-year-old American and a 23-year-old Romanian, lasted three hard-fought sets and three highly-strung hours. Two decades later, though, it’s remembered for a half-second’s worth of drama that occurred between games.

The moment is known as The Bump, and it summed not only that particular match, but that era-changing 1997 US Open. Late in the third set, Spirlea, irritated at Williams’ single-minded, laser-focused way of playing—and of walking to the sideline during changeovers—decided to see what it would take to knock Venus out of her groove. Spirlea walked straight in the direction of an oblivious Williams, until the two collided near the net. The bump barely registered on Venus, but it sent shockwaves across the grounds.

“She’s never trying to turn or whatever,” a still-annoyed Spirlea said later. “She thinks she’s the ----ing Venus Williams. I was like, ‘I want to see if she’s turning.’ She didn’t, so...”

Venus’s father, Richard, didn’t waste any time firing back, and fanning the controversy’s flames. He called Spirlea a “tall, white turkey” and claimed that the incident was racially motivated. (Richard apologized to Spirlea a few months later for what he called a “stupid statement” on his part.) It was an unfortunate, but not entirely surprising, denouement to what had been an electrifying two-week breakout run by Venus.

“At the time it felt dangerous,” S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated wrote of that fortnight at Flushing Meadows. “The ugliness that consumed the 1997 US Open seemed unstoppable. Few, if any, sporting events, in America, had been so charged, so flammable.”

Richard, Venus, and her younger sister Serena had been known in tennis circles for a decade, but the sport still didn’t seem quite prepared for their prime-time debut in New York. It had been 25 years since an African-American—Arthur Ashe in 1972—had reached a US Open final, and Venus’s first Open coincided with the opening of the stadium that bears Ashe’s name. Despite those warm symbolic vibes, though, the Williamses were something distinctly new for tennis. Venus wore beads in her hair, bashed her serve harder than any woman ever had, shrieked with virtually every shot, and showed little interest in making friends with her fellow players.

“I’m tall, I’m black, everything’s different about me,” Venus said.

If anything, her father’s unfiltered sensibility was an even big shock to the tennis system, and Venus spent much of her time during press conferences answering questions about his comments.

“I think this is definitely ruining the mood [surrounding Ashe Stadium’s opening], these questions about racism,” she said.

For six rounds, though, nothing could stop Venus on the court. It’s hard to remember now, but in those days the jury was still out on whether she was hope or hype. Her father had touted Venus as a future No. 1 for years, yet to that point she had won just one match at a major. But after dropping her first set at Flushing to Larisa Neiland, Venus found her footing. For many, the future of U.S. tennis dawned during her third-round night match against Anke Huber. The German was seeded eighth, but by the time Venus had beaten her 6-3, 6-4, it was clear she was a cut above her athletically.

A few days later, in her classic semifinal with Spirlea, Venus showed that she wasn’t just an athlete; she was a world-class competitor who would never be satisfied with second-best. She won all the important rallies that day, and saved two match points on her way to taking the deciding tiebreaker, 9-7.

When Spirlea’s final backhand floated wide, Venus gave us a preview of celebrations to come: She bounced, pogo-style, to the net, screaming joyfully all the way. “Party Crasher,” Sports Illustrated called her on its cover the following week. Twenty years later, Venus is still the toast of U.S. tennis, and African-Americans—from Serena to Sloane Stephens—are the life of its party.

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