Silence please: Martina Navratilova

Navratilova wants points deducted off players grunting, screeching, shrieking on court

Silence please: Martina Navratilova

Navratilova wants points deducted off players grunting, screeching, shrieking on court

(According to a prediction published yesterday, summer temperatures in Britain could rise to 41Cu00a0 by 2080 u2014 but nobody seems to care!)

The latest to make a noise about shriekers is legend Martina Navratilova.

In a signed column in a London newspaper, Navratilova writes that top of the list among the many issues that are potentially harmful to the future of the game is "grunting, screeching, shrieking, whatever you call it... I call it cheating", she says, "and it's got to stop".

She writes: "I guess the first person who made a grunting noise on court was Jimmy Connors and in those days it was almost funny.

"I started having issues with it when I was playing Monica Seles back in the early 1990s. She was the first of the shriekers and I didn't like it one bit. It affected my game because to me it is important to hear the ball hit the racket; you can hear a bad shot before you can see it and the sound is an imperative part of the game."
Navratilova goes on to describe the grunting as "unfair".

"There is no need to do it and I believe it may initially have been employed to put other people off. Chris Evert and I never used to make noises nor Roger Federer nowadays. It doesn't make anybody a better player and it could be counter-productive because making that kind of noise maybe a thousand times in a match requires a lot of energy."

"Shrieking," she says, "has increased to the point that the noise continues until the opponent actually comes to hit the ball and something now needs to be done about it.

Change rules
"Rules must be changed, players must be warned. If they don't stop they must have points deducted. I can see people turn off their television sets because the noise players make is abhorrent".

The icon also feels strongly about time violations.

"Umpires must crack down on players such as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who bounce the ball so many times before serving.

"A time clock should be placed on every court to ensure the allowed time period between points is not exceeded.

"Also, warm-ups are always too long and hardly anyone takes notice these days when the umpire calls time. Again, this is driving away potential spectators".

That is not all.
"Bring back smaller rackets", the tennis great writes, "because the skill element is disappearing from the game.

"Quicken playing surfaces, get a standard ball for every tournament, abolish lets on serve and stop the rules-makers cutting down on the size of logos on shirts and rackets, because golf is leaving us far behind in the monetary situation.

"But more than anything else," she writes: "Quieten things down. The grunting has to stop".

Navratilova is not the only one complaining. Following complaints at recent tournaments about an increase in on-court noise, Wimbledon is clamping down and umpires have been asked to monitor top women players to see if the level of shrieks "hinders" opponents.

The new roof installed on Centre Court could exacerbate the situation, All England sources say.

But many top players cannot perform without grunting, cases in point being champion Serena Williams and former winner Maria Sharapova.

The 16-year old Portuguese player Michelle Larcher De Brito has been measured at 109 decibels, which is just 11 decibels short of the noise a plane makes when taking off, or one decibel short of a lion's roar of 110 decibels. She stoutly maintains says she is not breaking any rules.

According to a chart on the Internet, Sharapova makes a noise nearly as loud as a snowmobile.

However, De Brito, who is making her Wimbledon debut, is not fazed. She has asked critics not to listen to her if they don't like the noise they make.

"It's not as if they have to listen to me. Television viewers can always hit the mute button if they don't like the sound I make".

She also had advice for spectators at Wimbledon. "They can bring their iPods and switch them while they watch me play."

At last month's French Open, Aravane Rezai complained to the umpire several times about the noise. The crowd booed after the teenager walked off after losing to her French opponent.

De Brito said: "If Rezai hadn't done the big scene, this controversy over grunting wouldn't have happened."

She added that if a Wimbledon opponent tried to raise the same issues, she would complain to the umpire herself.

"I'll say it is all getting too much. I'll tell the umpire it is suspicious."

'Selling sex'
As though there are not enough controversies already, former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich has caused outrage among the sport's females stars claiming their role is as much about 'selling sex' in court as it is about their sporting prowess.

Stich was men's singles champion in 1991 and now works as a live BBC Radio 5 commentator.

The 40-year old German, who beat Boris Becker to win the title, said the noise detracted from the players' 'sex appeal'.

"Just play it back to the women. It sounds disgusting, ugly, unsexy".

He added: "That's what they sell. They want to look good, they pay attention to their looks and everything".

He joked that the only way to stop the grunting from women players was to "shoot them", He added: "How are you going to prevent it? How are you going to measure it?"

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