I Love Grunting Tennis

With all the hype surrounding the World Cup, the inevitable NASCAR races and the F1 race in Silverstone, it's easy to forget that this past weekend was also when the French Open had it's finals. My mom is a huge tennis fan and as a result I grew up having watched some of the greats (and some of the not-so-greats) play the game. I remember seeing matches with Lendl, McEnroe, Connors, Navratalova, Graf and all the rest. I was there when the rivalries between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi or Steffi Graf and Monica Seles were at their height. They were among the classic rivalries of tennis during the 90's and it was something to look forward to at every major Open event.

One thing I remember from those days was the big stink that was raised over the fact that Monica Seles used to grunt rather loudly during her rallies. Now having played a bit of tennis myself I know that it takes a lot more force than people realize to return the ball as fast and as hard as they do and Monica Seles was one of the best when it came to those types of returns. Being of a smaller size than Steffi Graf, it isn't surprising that she would have to exert more force to get the point. What was surprising was the amount of complaining that came from opposing players regarding the grunting and how distracting they found it. At the time, no player outside the men's tour ever really grunted while playing.

At the time it seemed quite unlady-like and everyone used the 'controversy' to no end with parodies appearing on everything from late night TV to Saturday Night Live. In a way, Monica Seles was a pioneer. Despite all the jokes and jibes at her expense, she continued to play as hard as ever and she became one of the most successful players in recent tennis history. These days, she is but one of the first women players who would grunt when hitting the ball. Watch any women's match today and it's almost impossible to get through it without loud grunting.

I mean now, the women's tour grunts louder than the men's tour! Where are the complaints or jokes now? I guess it's acceptable these days since it is more common place. And women are getting stronger and stronger (I mean some of those women's players have larger biceps than even I do!) and so the need to return even harder is even more. Monica Seles used to be unique for her style of grunting. Now it is so common place it is almost impossible to tell who is playing whom. I do sometimes miss the old days when the men grunted like men and the women didn't, save for good old Monica!