Since Monica Seles flew up the world tennis rankings, more and more women have joined the grunting ranks of the WTA, sending loud shrieks into the stands as they hit the tennis ball. Some opponents of the shriekers have complained that it is distracting, and now the International Tennis Federation is considering penalties for grunting that distracts opponents. According to a report, Maria Sharapova is the worst offender, as her grunts reach 101 decibels (a lion’s roar is 110). Serena and Venus Williams have often been the target of criticism for grunting, and their shrieks come in at 89 and 85 decibels, respectively. Seles is at 93.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 1:57 PM
I usually watch women’s tennis on mute because of the grunting. Hopefully this goes through.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 5:21 PM
Honestly, the whole grunting thing hasn’t been a hot-button issue since the days of Seles and early in Sharapova’s career. Most (female) players grunt a bit, but it’s mostly white noise at this point. I will say, though, that what Michelle Larcher de Brito–the 16-year-old who got the debate going again with her insane moaning/screeching with every shot–does is louder and just plain more annoying than anyone I’ve ever heard on a tennis court. It’s pretty painful to listen to and I imagine would be quite distracting to an opponent. If there’s a line that needs to be drawn between OK and you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me loud, she would certainly have already crossed it.
on Jun 16th, 2009 at 9:38 PM
Yeah, Larcher de Brito was the worst thing I have ever heard in my entire life. Sharapova needs to tone it down every now and then, but Michelle sounds like she’s strangling a small puppy. If there was a penalty, the voices would magically come down.
on Jun 17th, 2009 at 2:41 AM
Grunting distracts them from chasing a ball around a court? What kind of sense does that make? “I’m sorry, I know there are several thousand people here who oooh and ahhh during points but her grunting is just too much!”. Maybe they should also come up with a rule against how fast you can hit the ball. It has to be distracting as hell when someone hits the ball past you all the time.
on Jun 17th, 2009 at 7:51 AM
I know I change the channel a lot quicker when the “grunting” players are on TV.
on Jun 20th, 2009 at 1:45 AM
It’s not white noise to me ! In fact it is annoying as hell
on Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:36 PM
The screeching is ridiculous. I watch with the sound off. Soon…I won’t watch at all. Pity…I used to love watching tennis.