[Penisvergroesserung]

For all the concern expressed for the players, as I understand it the complaints from the players are few and far between. Commentators, posters, etc are just personally irritated, which is fine. But making it an ITF battle, to me, is a waste of time off court and on.

All this for a silent Venus and Serena match. And how much less fun would that be?

A lot less, but I do think you should be able to let it out when you REALLY crush the ball, reach as far as you can, or hit the opposing player with the ball. ; )

[masteryxisman]

I am 100 % for this measure. One of the reason's I hate Maria is her grunting, and MLDB is going the same way. Teaching teanagers not to grunt so lowdly is actually helping them. The noise they make is taking people away from them, and it is totally unbearable for the opponent and spectators. I mean, you would think they are giving birth at every shot ! This is really too much. Next time I will bring ear plugs to the match.

[abossakon]

And tennis once again reinforces its rep as supremely uptight.

[PyncGyncliacy]

Teaching teanagers not to grunt so lowdly is actually helping them. The noise they make is taking people away from them, and it is totally unbearable for the opponent and spectators.

You would hope winning and playing their best, not getting fans and making the opponent comfortable, are these teenagers' interests. I agree that kids shouldn't be taught to grunt, but, as for some it's more natural than others, I think teaching them NOT to grunt may be a detriment to their tennis.

Even though I understand that it's a spectator sport and I feel for you or someone else who is severely bothered by it, but I guess on a grand scale, I'm still on the players' side and want them to have the freedom to play their best.

Anyway, I've kind of decided this is a publicity stunt.

[ultramDoctoo]

I would be so grateful if something could be done about grunting - I don't mind the "normal" grunts, it's the screeching that really bothers me. It would make my tennis watching much more enjoyable if those pesky players could be a little more considerate and just tone it down a bit.

[freddystone]

Nice!!!! I love it! But I actually think the timing is wrong. It should be implemented in the offseason so players have time to adjust.

Thank you. CNN never covers tennis except for major finals. In the last 2 or 3 weeks, I've seen THREE different pieces about this, and I haven't even been paying close attention.

This has nothing to do with the fans or the sport. This is personal. Period. Since when did people start giving a rat's ass about what Martina Navratilova has to say?

And there's a precedent here... The British tabloid media tried years ago to shut Seles up before the Wimbledon final... And that resulted in (arguably) one of the worst women's major finals in history. But I bet the fans loved it... After all, it was much quieter, right?

[Xewksghy]

I would be so grateful if something could be done about grunting - I don't mind the "normal" grunts, it's the screeching that really bothers me. It would make my tennis watching much more enjoyable if those pesky players could be a little more considerate and just tone it down a bit.

This is where its going to get sticky though. Who is going to decide what is normal and what isn't normal? Some of the players who have low grunts actually are more irritating because of the weird sounds they make.

I don't necessarily disagree with this because I have turned down Maria's matches on the TV because sometimes she hits just the right pitch to make me shudder. But they are going to be splitting hairs about noise. I don't see how they are going to implement this. If they start getting on to them after one loud noise, then every player that goes for a ball they know they aren't going to get to and do the scream of frustration are going to have to be included to be fair because technically they shrieked/screamed.

I'd really like to see an ump bend over to Maria, Venus, and Serena on a change over and say "Um...you're being to loud so...". Those three facial expressions would be awesome.

[freddystone]

This is where its going to get sticky though. Who is going to decide what is normal and what isn't normal?

I'm assuming the same people who arbitrarily decide when a player is taking too long between points or taking too long to challenge...

[Honealals]

What's a player like Aravane Rezai to do? Larcher DeBrito's grunt was described by the press as "blood curdling". It clearly interferes with being able to hear the ball come off the racquet, it's a major distraction on court. And it's gamesmanship. Especially when the sound is so piuercing, and so annoying, it becomes next to impossible to block it.

Here's MLDB, commenting on her grunting, along with a clip from the Rezai match at RG:

LarcherDeBrito on "The Grunt"

[PyncGyncliacy]

What's a player like Aravane Rezai to do? Larcher DeBrito's grunt was described by the press as "blood curdling". It clearly interferes with being able to hear the ball come off the racquet, it's a major distraction on court. And it's gamesmanship. Especially when the sound is so piuercing, and so annoying, it becomes next to impossible to block it.

Here's MLDB, commenting on her grunting, along with a clip from the Rezai match at RG:

[media=LarcherDeBrito on "ThekK3SRoi8[/media]

She's basically admitting to gamesmanship, because she says she "likes grunts" and does them because she is aggressive. Most players claim it's more of a breathing technique/energy exertion thing.