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9-11-01
ONE MONTH LATER
Marissa
Irvin reflects on playing in Hawaii after attacks
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
 At
6 a.m. on 9-11-01, American Marissa Irvin was awoken by the shrill
sound of a hotel phone in her room in Hawaii.
"It
was confusing because it's not like I asked for a 6 a.m. wake-up
call," said Irvin, who was playing in the Big Island Championships.
"It was Irvin's mother, Helene, calling to tell
her that the World Trade Centers were bring attacked.
"I was shocked, I couldn't believe it," Irvin told .
"I said a lot of prayers. I didn't know what to do. I spend
the rest of the day glued to the TV. It was weird to be at a tournament.
There was no way I could have played that day. I was so taken
aback."
On
Thursday, the tournament decided to play on and Irvin and the
rest of her
WTA brethren continued to compete in the only major sporting event
that
didn't shut down in the U.S. Irvin wrapped her hat in a red, white
and blue
bandanna and soldiered on.
"I
wasn't consulted on wheter the tournament should be stopped,"
Irvin said.
"The decision was made for us so I just went with it. In
a minute way, I
felt like I was playing for my country. I tried to show my support
by playing
well. We're entertainers so maybe we helped ease people's minds
a little bit.
You know, if we would have stopped everything, that's exactly
what the
terrorist would have wanted. Then what they aimed for would have
worked."
In what would be her best result in a WTA tour event in 2001,
former Stanford
star and Santa Monica resident Irvin reached the semis. She said
that before
she took the court after 9-11-01, she decided to change her mentality.
"Tennis
is so unimportant in the large scheme of things," said Irvin,
a
student of history who is currently reading 'John Adams.' "I
decided to stop
thinking so much about myself and not put so much pressure on
myself, to play
with respect for the victims by just trying to play the game well."
Due to her change of approach, Irvin won the Fresno Challenger
last week and
has set her immediate sights on the top 50. However, she won't
be getting on
a plane anytime soon. "Not until Australia," she said.
"I'm still planning on
going – at
least for now."
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