By David Salter
Yet the authorities who govern tennis (despite repeated assurances that they intend to confront the problem) have never invoked the one measure that could settle the grunting issue: their own regulations. Here鈥檚 the applicable International Tennis Federation rule: HINDRANCE: If a player is hindered in playing the point by a deliberate act of the opponent, the player shall win the point.
Note: 鈥渟hall win the point鈥. No warning. No let played. The key 鈥渨riggle-word鈥 in that rule is 鈥渄eliberate鈥. The grunters always argue that their noise is just an involuntary physical response to the exertion of hitting the ball. But Rule 26 has that covered: However, the point shall be replayed if a player is hindered in playing the point by an unintentional act of the opponent.
In other words, a player who objected to the distracting noises coming from the other side of the net could ask the umpire for the previous point to be replayed, again and again, until their opponent desisted, retired or was defaulted.
Nevertheless, a player鈥檚 complaint on those grounds during a French Open match brought no action. At the time, Martina Navratilova said: 鈥淭he grunting has reached an unacceptable level. It is cheating, pure and simple. It is time for something to be done鈥. Later, the WTA chief executive acknowledged the issue, saying: 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for us to drive excessive grunting out of the game for future generations.鈥