The Sound and the Fury

Tennis is all a twitter about the sounds emanating from the five-foot five-inch frame of Michelle Larcher De Brito, the 16-year-old tennis phenom from Portugal. Ms. Larcher De Brito's sounds, variously termed as "shrieks," "wails" and "grunts," have caused a kafuffle in professional tennis of John McEnroe proportions. Ranked 91st in the world, she qualified to play in her first Grand Slam tournament at the 2009 French Open and surprisingly prevailed in her first two matches before losing in the third round at Roland Garros.

Although she apparently has future "winning chances" in women's tennis, her potential has been overshadowed by her current noise quotient. There have been other pro tennis stars who used sound effects to good effect. Maria Sharapova, Monica Seles and both Williams' sisters come to mind, but Larcher De Brito may be in a class of her own when it comes to emitting annoying sounds on the court that linger on until her opponent is about ready to address the ball. International Tennis Federation has a "hindrance" rule if her opponent is ''hindered in playing the point by a deliberate act." If applied, it would cause her to lose a point each time her intentional sounds interfered with an opponent. There is more to Larcher De Brito's performance than her shrieks. In addition to her obvious talent, her attitude and body language show disdain for her opponent, certainly offensive behavior in the pristine world of ladies tennis.

Some of the grand dames of tennis have taken the offensive against "The Grunter." Martina Navratilova said in a recent speech: ''The grunting has reached an unacceptable level. It is cheating, pure and simple. It is time for something to be done.'' Wimbledon officials reportedly talked with Larcher De Brito, and she toned down her "whoops" for her first round match.

While in the short run, Larcher De Brito might be able to cut her decibel level, she has trained her entire short life to make noise while playing the game: "It's always something I've done. I'm going to keep on doing it, because it's really part of my game. I don't mind if people think it's bad or not.'' She also suggested that if the fans didn't like it, they can bring iPods to drown out the noise. She sounds like an arrogant teenager.

Larcher De Brito may think she rules the world, but she is not there yet. Tennis officials can penalize her into shutting up. Her disdain for others will not play well in the endorsement market either, a critical part of a player's earning capacity. She will be shunned and avoided on the tour, tough for any young player.

I would propose an alternative approach to the onslaught of tennis' annoying sounds. Other than golf, tennis is the only major sport where the fans are supposed to quiet down during play. World Team Tennis, a fringe but interesting alternative format, allows cheering like at Yankee Stadium. (Could you imagine how strange it would be if the umpire signaled to the crowd before C.C. Sabathia pitched that they had to "shush" while the big left hander delivered the ball?) Tennis should abolish the quiet rule and allow the customers to cheer their ears off. Their sounds will drown out Ms. Larcher De Brito's heartfelt squawks, and the world will be saved.

Comments

[CantStopUsNow]

Are you kidding me? The shrieks are the only reason I watch women's tennis! Is Tennis a sport or not? Because if it is, then noise shouldnt be a problem. They're trying to put tennis in the same category as golf and curling. Shame because it is a much much more intense sport then both.

[edva]

Out of bounds. Pardon the pun.

[Angelaaaa]

If screeching and wailing is necessary to the quality of the sport and delivering maximum power to the stroke, does that mean that relatively quiet female players of the past weren't playing good tennis? I deeply suspect that dear old Martina in her day could have knocked this arrogant missy right out of her pompom socks. Silently and with good grace.

[OneTop]

Yes, consider the on-court behaviour of Rodger Federer.

Gosh ... what might have been if only he grunted on each forehand.

[dm10003]

i remember the early days of females grunting and groaning. women defended it as equal to men's noisemaking and a non-issue.

the difference was and is men's noises sounded low and purposeful, women's noises, while likely just as purposeful, sounded higher and distressed -- and are distressing to hear. that shouldn't be dismissed by women defenders.

i don't know what the solution is, but if there is one, it's only fair to apply it to both women and men.

[Tear59]

Heck yes it's cheating because it seems she can stop when she chooses to! I guess she just needs them to make her stop cheating. No matter how good she thinks she is, she needs to grow up big time.

[RumiSouth]

The grunting has nothing to do with distracting another player and everything to do with delivering maximum power to the stroke.

I invite any doubters to visit their local martial arts dojo and learn to break a board. The ki-ai is an essential part of the strike; just TRY punching yellow pine without the shout. But make sure you have insurance first.

That a basic application of kinesiology would threaten the world of tennis says more for the hoity-toity sport than it does for the player in question.

[cousinavi]

Grunting as you play a shot is one thing.
De Brito's groans go on...and on...and on...they commonly haven't concluded by the time her opponent is returning the ball.
To extend your analogy, she doesn't merely grunt when she breaks the board, she's still moaning at volume when the splinters are being swept up.
It is distracting to the opponent, annoying to the fans, viewers AND her opponent, and on that basis there is sufficient reason to require that she tone it down, shorten it up and stop interfering with play.
It's a judgment call, sure...but sports is full of them. Balls and strikes, in or out...and now, "Your shrieks are deemed to be too loud and/or too long - next time you lose a point...and every time after that.
There are certain things you may not do, in fairness or in common sense. Making noises that distract and aggravate your opponent is one of them.

[argyle]

Cheering in the middle of a point would make tennis unplayable as players need to hear the calls of the line persons and chair umpire.