WIMBLEDON, England—Michelle Larcher de Brito is a great prospect. In the past month, she has made it through to the third round of the French Open, defeating world No.15 Zheng Jie in the process, and the second round at Wimbledon – despite only being 16 years of age and not by any means gifted with a precocious physique.
Yet all this has been lost in a wave of controversy which has sparked even nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova into a frenzy of criticism. The issue of course is the on-court noise levels. Larcher de Brito was on nobody’s radar screens until her third round match at Roland Garros, when her opponent Aravane Rezai complained on-court during the match.
“Rules must be changed, players must be warned. If they don’t stop, they must have points deducted. I can see people turning off their TV sets because the noise players make is abhorrent,” was Navratilova’s outspoken comment on the affair in an article which began with the headline-grabbing comment: “grunting, screeching, shrieking, whatever you want to call it. I call it cheating and it’s got to stop”.
The chair umpire during Larcher de Brito’s match against Rezai did not take any action, but is the Portuguese prodigy really breaking the rules, or at the very least going against the spirit of the game?
Someone who refutes this is Nick Bollettieri. Michelle is part of the legendary coach’s academy in Bradenton, Florida which has produced a long line of champions over the past 30 years. And when asked about Navratilova’s comments, Nick had a typically forthright answer.
“Martina said that it is cheating, but I can categorically state that it is not and she knows that. I certainly never teach my players to do it, which is something that has also been mentioned – that’s absurd. In the future though, it’s something I’ll have to address in the academy with the players from an early age.”
“The players, not the spectators, have to decide,” Nick continued, warming to his subject. “They are the ones who have to put up with it, not the fans. Until then, it should be at the discretion of the chair umpire. You can’t have a noise-meter on every court – it’s like Hawkeye, it would be too expensive. The question is whether it breaks the other player’s concentration, but plenty of players have made noise – Andre (Agassi), Maria (Sharapova), Serena (Wiliams)…”
“Releasing energy is very important though, like it is in plenty of other sports,” he pointed out.
“A javelin-thrower for example needs to learn to breathe out properly, and it’s the same for a tennis player. Otherwise, they tense up and the body becomes less flexible, and that’s dangerous.”
One person who has perhaps been lost in the entire debate is Larcher de Brito herself, but Bollettieri was not worried that the furore would have an adverse effect on her.
“Michelle’s she’s a big girl, it’s not bothered her. She’s playing well at the moment but she’s not there yet,” he said, going on to outline what the 16-year-old needs to take her game to the next level. “She needs to learn depth, when to come in, when to slice, when to go to the open court. She’s not a giant but she hits the ball with great power – variation is the key. Otherwise, she has all the ingredients. She’s pretty, she’s polite, she comes from a lovely family – she’s a great kid.”
Bollettieri knows what he is talking about and has an unerring eye for talent, particularly in the women’s game. Another of his protégées, Sabine Lisicki, stormed into the fourth round on Saturday, defeating No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets.
It also seems a sure thing that Larcher de Brito will make it to the top – the only doubt is about the number of decibels she will be allowed to make on the way.
Drew Lilley is writing and blogging for www.wimbledon.org.
Thanks, Drew, for a great article!
I think Nick raises a very valid point. Grunting is a form of releasing energy. If you take that away from a player, you’ve thrown her whole game off-balance.
Cheating? Maybe yes, maybe no. Causing a distraction to an opponent isn’t allowed, and loud shrieking is a distraction. But I think Nick is wrong, tennis is entertainment, fans buy tickets and expect to be entertained. When someone like Larcher de Brito makes it painful for spectators, they will quit buying tickets for her matches. Is this benefitting tennis? Is this helping our sport? Anything not building a larger fan support is the wrong direction.
I would not call it cheating, but I would call it unnecessary and ridiculous. There is a difference between grunting and screaming. A player can release energy without screaming. The male players do it all day long. I particularly find it offensive when a player lets out that scream while putting away a sitter. It’s obnoxious. I hope it stops. It was a glaring omission from Maria’s 12 steps to improve women’s tennis. I am not known for being a quiet player on the court, but after watching/listening to so many pro matches with this going on, I really have made an effort to keep a lid on it.
All the class act players for decades NEVER screeched and acreamed and growled and grunted,
and they were great athletes! Steffi & Martina & Margaret Court & Evert, etc… have the most Grand Slams and never needed to resort to such irritation!
Nick is wrong when he says it’s up to the players & not the spectators. The spectators pay the bill!! We pay the players salary for the most part, along with the sponsors, and there should be some respect for us, too!!
Seles started this, and the Williams sisters, Maria, Azarenka, and only a small handful of others continue to do this, but the decibal levels are so high, I DO mute the televion, and I resent it having to, because then I can’t hear the commentators when I mute my TV, but I have no choice… I can’t stand the wildcat shrieks, screams & growls…
I don’t know if it’s true cheating, but you’re not supposed to be allowed to distract your opponent so violently, and it is WAY MORE UNACCEPTABLE to me than all the dawdling and time wasting between points that goes on… (excessive ball bouncing, etc..) Umpires call time violations all the time, so there is no reason they shouldn’t do the same for screeching distraction to an opponent & upsetting the spectators — give them a violation call for noise, and the ladies would start being more lady-like eventually, and focus back on winning matches the way Graf, Navratilova, Court, Evert, even Lindsay Davenport did… Class acts, pure athletes, no screeching, no screaming, no grunting, no ear-drum splitting, high decibal levels… Just great tennis!
Nick is an idiot if he thinks you can’t exhale, show normal exertion, and be a great athletic player, without that kind of unsporting beyond irritating behavior!
I completely agree with Navratilova on this one. People will just turn off the TV!
But some of this explanations are kind of out of date: Sure, in the past women didnt scream the way they do now, but there is no way to compare the power and strenght involved. Fast, powerful and risky (in shots i mean) is the game of today.
I do agree on the chair umpires wasting some of their facculties when not warning players with excesive noise, they are distracting on purpose and, while not agaist the rules, is clearly againts some honesty. Men and women should be penalized for this based on VERY CLEAR rules. Larcher de Brito made it annoying in that match but its not like she is a monster. Turning off your TV or mute? I see that unnecesary, you can easily turn down the volume or so.
“…the ladies would start being more lady-like eventually…” This is just unbelievable, there is a clear difference between female tennis and femenine players, tha last one being up to the player… or anyone for that matter!!!
grunting is not something you practice or do it on purpose. it is just the players way of releasing the energy while taking your body to the max! some players do it exhaling and some add the sound to it! once again none of it is premeditated and depends on the way that person is built the way they breathe etc. we are all different and people who are broad minded are able to recognize that fact. for those who are not…well keep complaining!!! but you are missing the point!! tennis is a wonderful game with and without screaming!!
I see it from both sides – players need to release energy for sure, but some are over the top, and from a fan’s perspective, I think it colors the competition negatively.
I think there is “proper” grunting and “improper” grunting.
Raising the issues should go a long way – as Nick himself said he’ll have to address it with other young players going forward. He should. Fan’s definitely don’t like it – just ask the Parisians…