Women in Tennis

I remember a few days back, watching Pardon the Interruption on ESPN. My favorite show on television since I was in middle school. Anyway, in the at the end of the show, they argued about grunting in Tennis. They stated that an nine year old in Australia was banned from her local tennis courts because of her grunting to loud. The girl's idol was Maria Sharapova and she was trying to emulate her style. Michael Wilbon, one of the host of the show, argued that while one his favorite tennis player, Monica Seles, grunted a lot and loud, that it should be banned from Tennis matches. Tony Kornheiser (sp.) the other co-host agreed with him at stated that it is annoying to those watching it and to the opponent that they are facing.

I am a big tennis fan, and I try to play every weekend when I get the chance. I even played a lot in high school. While in school, my varsity Tennis coach made us play an exhibition against our women's Tennis team. One of the girls grunted so loud that you could hear her on any of the courts. Even watching the Williams' sisters on television, they too grunt when returning shots. I can understand how some could find grunting as unladylike, loud, annoying or as an unpleasant sound. However, I don't really have a problem. If anything I see it as how much a player is putting into a shot. I've seen men grunt and while not as loud, people do not seem to care. I believe that it is not a big deal ans that the Australian Tennis court should let the girl play Tennis and not oppress those who grunt.

D.Smith