June 29 2009
Tennis Lady Grunting
posted by Ana Samways at 10:32 amTennis lady grunting is the talk of Wimbledon. Crowds mimicked Victoria Azarenka’s wailing during her second-round victory and now she has come out telling fans to stop it – she says it helps her put more power to the ball.
Michael Stich, a former champion and BBC commentator, told the Daily Mail “It sounds disgusting, ugly, unsexy!” When it was suggested that the female competitors are here to play tennis, rather than look sexy, Stich didn’t budge. “That’s what they sell,” he said, “They want to look good, they pay attention to their looks and everything.” He then made a terrible joke, saying that the best way to stop women players grunting was to “shoot them.”
You can read all you like about this matter; but the best way to judge is to hear it for yourself. Here’s a compilation of grunts: Maria Sharapova vs Michelle Larcher De Brito
June 30th, 2009 at 8:11 am
I listened for 24 seconds and that was enough for me, surely they can tone it down, it’s not Karate class
June 30th, 2009 at 9:05 am
What a flamin racket…pardon the pun. If you couldn’t see the action you would swear it was a full on chick fight, belting the snot out of each other.
June 30th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Wow that’s embarrasing.It sounds really stupid.I wasn’t that loud even during birth with no drugs.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Calling it ‘grunting’ is part of the problem. Grunts are short, pitched low and generally not very annoying. What these women are doing is screeching (a high-pitched strident or piercing sound).
June 30th, 2009 at 11:56 am
From the BBC:”Another rather wishful theory is that the grunt may be an indicator of what the lovely lady is like in bed.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4118708.stm
June 30th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I’m deaf! Imagine what it’s like being there! The fact is it’s players pushing the laws to their limits to try to unsettle their opponents. Nothing to do with hitting the ball harder. Chris Evert said in her day, apart from Seles, nothing like this went on. How many Grand Slam titles did Evert win? How many will Larcher de Brito win? Zero I would say.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I love it. It reminds me of my misspent youth watching – ahem – gentlemen’s art movies…
June 30th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Perhaps its all a big mistake after their coach said “now I want you to do what I do when you smash these balls with your racket”?
July 1st, 2009 at 3:06 pm
The only justification for screaming like that is if one is in pain. And if it is causing her that much pain every time she hits the ball then I suggest she sees a doctor.
Clearly she’s just being a tosser and trying to unsettle her opponent. Unfortunately she is so unsettling to watch that she’ll soon find she’s not a favourite of the audience, the broadcasters and, therefore, the advertisers.