WTA Develops Plan to Tackle Excessive Grunting Left, Andrew Gombert/European Pressphoto Agency; right, Rhona Wise/European Pressphoto Agency Maria Sharapova, left, and Victoria Azarenka, right, the top-ranked women's players, are also known for their grunting. The WTA will not force current players to alter their habits. Years ago, grunting in sports was the province of wrestlers, shot-putters and linemen in football. Then women's tennis players started grunting and suddenly every match seemed to include at least one opponent shrieking with every swing. In January, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, the top two women's players in the world, appeared to be fighting not just for the Australian Open championship but also for the title of loudest grunter. But a growing chorus of complaints from fans and some athletes has pushed the Women's Tennis Association to crack down on what it calls excessive grunting. At a meeting last weekend in Key Biscayne, Fla., the WTA's board said it planned to tackle loud grunting, shrieking and yelling. For aurally challenged tennis fans, relief will not come soon because the WTA has determined that it would not be fair to force current tour players to alter the way they play. The association will work with coaches, academies, the International Tennis Federation and other groups to educate younger players and, when appropriate, enforce current rules. The effort "stemmed from an increase in negative fan reaction to excessive grunting and an increase in media coverage, and we made a determination that the landscape had changed, and we owed it to the fans to take a look at it," said Andrew Walker, a spokesman for the tour. Walker said that the tour was still in the process of developing a long-term plan. The challenge raises a Zen riddle of sorts: If a player grunts on the court, does everyone have to hear it for it to be a problem? The short answer is yes, Walker said; it's a matter of degree: grunting is fine, but excessive grunting is not. And while few coaches specifically teach their players to grunt, he said, the next generation of players will need to learn when to tone it down, even if they have grown up watching the world's best yell their lungs out on their climb to the top. "If junior players start getting docked points for excessive grunting, they won't care what their role models do," Walker said. If we get the proper education and enforcement, it will resolve itself. Stacey Allaster, the chief executive of the WTA, first said she wanted to address the issue last summer. She noted that players on the men's tour also grunt, "but our female DNA transmits it in a different way." Not long afterward, Caroline Wozniacki, a former No. 1 player, criticized some of her louder rivals, accusing them of grunting for an edge because, she said, it was harder for opponents to hear how the ball was struck and consequently how fast it was traveling toward them. "I think there are some players who do it on purpose," she told reporters. They don't do it in practice, and then they come into the match and they grunt. Grunting has been a topic for at least two decades on the women's tour. At Wimbledon in 1992, Monica Seles had to worry not only about a death threat, but also about the flap her grunting caused. During her semifinal victory over Martina Navratilova, Seles was cautioned twice by the chair umpire for her two-tone squeaks. One tabloid measured Seles's loudest grunt at 98.1 decibels, two decibels lower than a pneumatic drill. In the final, Seles stayed quiet and lost in straight sets to Steffi Graf. What is unclear is how excessive grunting will be defined. Will a decibel level be set? Will judges be given grunt-o-meters? Will moaning pass muster? And how will a player be taught not to grunt? A grunt, after all, is a deep guttural sound. Is it possible to grunt accidentally? Most of all, will fans be happy with the changes? "I've run into a lot of people who tell me if they're watching tennis on TV, they turn off the sound," said Bud Collins, a longtime announcer. I'm sure players don't need to do it because you don't hear a peep from them when they're practicing. It's gamesmanship.